There is a joyful tension in the work of the architect Nicholas Ashby. Where materials and space are concerned, every element is a reinforcement of existing character. On the corner of Blenheim Gardens and Brixton Hill, the architect has put this ethos to work, employing the wonderful volume and many windows of a late-Victorian apartment to create a generous, functional and supremely finished space full of materiality, technicality and playful, whimsical detail.
Though limited in its footprint, at around 515 sq ft, the brilliance of this design lies first in its rearrangement of flow and space to establish a series of connected, but defined, and well-proportioned rooms.
The previous lobby still retains its original purpose but now, through the repositioning of storage, an office space with a built-in desk and shelving has been established. The removal of a corridor and transposition of kitchen and bathroom have enlarged the bedroom significantly and given it its own wet room with a wall of its own beautifully concealed storage.
