After residing in a compact flat in West Norwood, south London, Robyn and Mike Collins relocated to Brockley, the place they may acquire far extra space for his or her cash.
They bought a characterless, draughty mid-century terrace home on the nook of a busy street. With leaky partitions, darkish, maze-like rooms and a severe lack of character, the home wanted work.
“It was habitable, however the format was bizarre,” explains Robyn. “It had a utility house within the center that took up quite a lot of room, and a pillar within the centre of the residing space.” Nonetheless, it supplied loads of promise, with a large footprint and house on the again for an extension.
Challenge particulars
- Location Lewisham, south London
- Challenge Full renovation and extension of a Fifties residence
- Home measurement 98sq m
- Construct price £219,500
Grand plans
The couple lived in the home because it was for 2 years, whereas they saved up sufficient cash to hold out a significant home renovation. Their purpose? To inject a daring, Miami-inspired aesthetic into the house’s beige rooms, whereas drawing in most pure gentle and bettering the property’s thermal efficiency.
To seek for the proper designer, Robyn typed “playful native architect” into Pinterest. Nonetheless, she had her eyes on one agency specifically.
“Workplace S&M Architects at all times use color in uncommon methods and do issues which are a bit totally different,” she says. “I used to be actually drawn to that. We wished the design to be shocking and to push the boundaries. We had religion that they might obtain that.”
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Designing pleasure
Working with the agency’s co-founder, Catrina Stewart, Robyn and Mike proffered a really distinctive reference for inspiration – a bakery in Glasgow.
“ARD Bakery makes essentially the most unimaginable, Memphis-inspired muffins,” says Robyn. An abundance of color and shapes, these muffins can’t assist however make you smile. “You’ll be able to see the home as you come down the street, so we wished it to be one thing that different individuals might get pleasure from; to convey a little bit of pleasure to this little nook of south London.”
Taking inspiration from ARD Bakery’s thrilling creations, in addition to American diners and digital artwork, Catrina designed a up to date renovation that honoured the home’s Fifties origins, by using textured render, sharp and comfortable shapes and tiled detailing.
She recommended opening up the bottom ground to merge beforehand remoted rooms right into a spacious wraparound residing space. A facet extension would make house for a shiny kitchen with giant glazing components, and a brand new curved wall would carve off a piece of the house for a downstairs lavatory.
To handle the house’s thermal points, Catrina centered on bettering the constructing’s material utilizing Rockwool’s sustainable stone wool pure insulation and high-performance Velfac architectural glazing.
To work with the couple’s tight funds, the unique home windows upstairs could be retained. With sustainability in thoughts, the design would incorporate as most of the unique supplies as attainable, too, corresponding to the outside shingles and pebbledash, which might be rigorously restored and painted.
Lastly, Catrina recommended wrapping the backyard in an undulating fence thought. “The design course of was extremely collaborative and I actually appreciated that,” says Robyn. “It felt very respectful – we revered Catrina’s experience and felt very led by her, however equally she listened to our concepts and what we wished.”
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Administration and supplies
As soon as the plans have been set, they have been submitted to Lewisham Council and regardless of the house’s daring makeover, they have been signed off inside the usual 13 weeks.
“It was a really easy course of,” says Robyn. “Lewisham Council are very open to doing daring issues with housing; even their planning software bundle could be very artistic and fantastically designed. We ended up having no challenges to the design.”
Catrina took on venture administration duties and organised the tender course of. “We selected to make use of a piece of our funds for this,” says Robyn. “There have been issues we couldn’t do due to that, just like the first-floor rest room, however having somebody skilled to handle the venture was actually vital to us. We knew there could possibly be quite a lot of obstacles, and felt reassured having Catrina on board to maintain the venture on observe.”
TW Area Conversion have been chosen to deal with the work. “They got here again with essentially the most affordable contract and after their earlier initiatives, we had religion they may do the job,” says Robyn.
Work started in January 2023, with the development of the rear extension. Constructed on concrete foundations, it was constructed from blockwork. A number of the inside partitions of the house have been eliminated, opening up the floorplan for the creation of a free-flowing, L-shaped residing, eating and kitchen space.
Externally, the house was completed with pastel lilac render, complemented by mint-green drainage pipes, checkerboard tiles and a curved pink porch thought. The couple have been capable of reside off-site throughout the venture, staying with Mike’s mum, however they commonly dropped by to regulate progress and have been closely concerned within the number of supplies, finishes and colors.
Amazingly, Robyn and Mike admit the journey was easy crusing. “It was a extremely optimistic expertise,” says Robyn. “We have been anticipating issues to go flawed, or for it to be actually anxious, however they didn’t and it wasn’t. We had an important three-way working relationship and tackled any points collectively. Everybody was up for collective drawback fixing.”
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Highlight on various to terrazzo
Eager so as to add playful pops each in and out, Robyn and Mike selected a terrazzo-inspired floor for the kitchen worktops and backsplash – accents will also be discovered exterior.
“We initially wished to go together with The Good Plastic Firm, who makes sustainable floor supplies utilizing recycled plastics, however we would have liked one thing that could possibly be uncovered to warmth,” says Robyn. “We discovered Mirrl and despatched them the colors we wished. They shortly despatched us a pattern. It appeared virtually like confetti.”
This strong floor materials encompasses a poplar plywood substrate, embellished with big flecks of dried paint. A resin seals the highest. The fabric will not be solely sustainable, however extremely resilient, waterproof, meals protected and repairable. Every sheet of Mirrl is one-of-a-kind and made to order, making this superior element utterly distinctive to Robyn and Mike’s residence.
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Residing in color
The principle components of the home have been completed in September 2023, after which Robyn and Mike received palms on with adorning. “We took it in turns within the evenings to come back to the home and paint,” says Robyn. “We selected all the colors ourselves – we have now a eager eye for colors and easy methods to steadiness them.”
After saving up some time longer, the couple additionally requested TW Area Conversion to come back again and renovate their upstairs rest room. “They have been joyful for us to only give them a fast design on the again of a bit of paper after which they received on with it.”
Right now, the couple’s residence is sort of a beacon on the road – calling out to those that want to absorb a real piece of property artwork. In all places you look you’ll spot one thing enjoyable and attention-grabbing – from the zigzag marmoleum ground, to the terrazzo-inspired accents.
The latter of which is Robyn’s favorite a part of the home. “Essentially the most rewarding second of the venture was coming to the home and seeing this bespoke materials for the primary time,” says Robyn. “It was custom-made particularly for us by Mirrl. The floor is among the most joyful components of the property.”
The home doesn’t faux to be grown up in any approach and that’s precisely what Robyn and Mike have been seeking to obtain. “Interiors will be seen as fairly stuffy, severe issues. Our residence sticks two fingers as much as that,” says Robyn.
As for tackling one other venture sooner or later, the couple are eager. Robyn concludes, “If we had the chance, we’d do all of it once more because it was such expertise and I liked the design course of. I used to be in my component!”
This beautiful property received the Greatest Inside class within the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2025, in partnership with The Instances and The Sunday Instances. Should you’re eager to search out extra inspiration, take a look at this vibrant Seventies terrace the place a timber-frame extension helped improve household life.
