Corduroy Wall Apartment

This project explores the potential of carefully designed architectural interventions to re-structure an apartment, maximising the potential of a limited floor area, while instilling a sense of materiality and quality using relatively cost effective materials.

The brief was for the the full interior renovation of a flat in Marylebone, re-configuring the inefficient existing one bedroom, one bathroom layout to incorporate two double bedrooms, each with ensuite facilities, along with a generous open plan kitchen, dining and living space.

The chosen design solution incorporated a series of fixed furniture elements that structured a newly orientated layout maximising every square inch of the property’s modest 75m2 footprint. Ensuite bedrooms are organised behind a finely detailed full height timber ‘storage screen’ wall to allow a consolidated street-facing living space running the full length of the apartment.

The wall incorporates all storage and service requirements for the apartment, from space heating and fire protection equipment, to kitchen appliances and hanging cupboards, resulting in a highly efficient overall plan. Materiality and texture are also carefully expressed. Lye-washed batten profiles modulate the organising wall to create a subtle texture enlivened by the characterful grain of the Douglas Fir timber.

Flush finished frameless doors and discreet machined handles are concealed in the timber profiles adding a sense of craft and delight to the touch.The main living/dining space is also anchored at each end with bespoke wall to wall furniture units in ultra-matt, clear sealed, dark grey through-coloured MDF, topped with black pitted bespoke concrete worktops, with matching pieces to shower room cabinetry and basins.