London will always have the key to my heart, its history, its energy and most of all its bricks and mortar that make it so emotional for me. I will never take London for granted. I have lived in and around London for the past 18 years and whether walking through ‘the city’ or down tree lined avenues, I have never failed to revel in the sights, sounds and little details that make it so special.
Without waxing lyrical too much, what I mean to say is that the designs of London studio Hogarth Architects really spoke to me. Obviously from a design point of view I am not against the renovation of old homes and historic buildings, in-fact most of the time I believe buildings are enhanced by the contrasts created.
I love how Hogarth Architects adapted homes in the oldest parts of London [Kensington, Belgravia, Chelsea, St. Johns Wood] and enhanced their natural details; like expanses of old brick walls, curves of tall windows, intricate moldings, and luscious wood floors.
One of my favorite games to play in London is to look up at its old rooftops and imagine lives lived, in their high up attics and behind drawn curtains. The above renovation lays the iconic outline of rooftops before its owner, really enhancing the history of its surroundings by the modernity of its design.
The above home is like an museum, its smooth minimalist walls being the museum and the buildings’ old details the art. I love how the traditional elements are highlighted by strips of light!
All the other designs below are just such great examples of uniting the outside London with the inside London, which we must admit the original houses never really did.
This last sneaky one, is a purely gratuitous look at keeping the architecture true to its original form, but thoroughly modernising with a blank canvas coat of paint which enhances its shapes and countours, adding space saving spotlights and loving restoring an old London homes’ floors.
New at the Design Museum!
History House
The Museum Shop
