Layers of Light: Barbara Weiss on Redesigning a Family Home
The age-old adage ‘the kitchen is the heart of the home’ couldn’t be more appropriate for this smart Edwardian terrace house in Earlsfield. “My clients are into cooking and entertaining; since the redesign over a decade ago they’ve thrown a fair few parties here,” says architect Barbara Weiss, who was tasked with transforming what was once a dingy, cramped, three-bedroom property into a four-bedroom home that makes family life feel easy, with a full-width kitchen-dining-living extension at the back. “A lot of emphasis was on the relationship between the kitchen and family room, and the garden. We put in glass doors that open onto the courtyard to create one big inside-outside room in the summer and there’s a modern outdoor fireplace so it can be used in winter too.”
The open-plan space is relaxing yet functional, with a sofa for reading the newspapers to one side of the kitchen island and floor-to-ceiling storage so all the appliances can be hidden out of sight. “I’m often teased about storage because I once wrote a book on the subject and I consider it a specialism of mine; it allows you to live clutter-free,” says Barbara. “This house goes a step further though because we incorporated a utility room for laundry, pantry jars and an extra freezer.” The practice typically favours natural materials, as evidenced here through the choice of stone floors, Carrara marble and mix of warm woods.
Oak takes centre stage in a showstopping staircase that is central to the flow of the house. “Originally, it was devised because the client owns a helicopter blade which he wanted pinned to the wall as a sculpture. We decided on a spectacular staircase at the building’s core, with opaque internal glazing that not only links all the half floors, but creates a triple height space,” explains Barbara. It also ticked a key part of the owners’ brief: plenty of natural light. “The family nicknamed the home The Lighthouse because it has so much daylight streaming through. They also asked for clean lines, a timeless look and flexibility so that the house could evolve as the children grew up.”
Other clever ideas that make the most of the light include adding a window from the staircase into the formal sitting room (which the family once used as a music room) and rejigging the overall layout. “We moved the bathrooms and placed the new utility room and a cloakroom into the darkest, middle part of the house. It’s a bit like a layer cake so the rooms at the front and the back both have windows which open-up onto some lovely views. The son, who had the room in the attic, with his bed right under the window and a skylight, had the best outlook, all the way to Wimbledon,” recalls Barbara.
The ensuite master bedroom, which faces the back garden, has its own mini-lobby lined with cupboards – another of Barbara’s tried-and-tested layout tricks. “It feels like you’re in a hotel and slightly detaches the bedroom from the rest of the house,” she says. Meanwhile, the guest room (also an ensuite) doubles up as a study with a built-in desk nook, or as a television room for teenagers. “It was always intended to be a multi-purpose room and I think one of the things the clients have always appreciated most about the house is that it has been capable of changing with them. As an architect I think it’s important to think of long-term scenarios, not just someone’s immediate needs.” As for the owners’ favourite space? “The kitchen, because it’s where they all come together as a family.”
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