vPPR — Grove End Road

This exquisite studio was built in c.1926 by architect Thomas Tait for sculptor William Reid Dick in the Scottish Arts and Crafts style. vPPR was brought in to improve the thermal performance of the building and to restore some of the original, highly geometric spaces, which had become carved up over years of successive ownership. In particular the enormous entry doors to the studio space were reinstated so that it can now be used again for the fabrication of large scale sculptures.

Project

Use: House, art studio and artist retreat
Location: City of Westminster
Status: On site
Size: GIA 234m²

Team

Client: Private
Heritage consultant: Donald Insall
Quantity Surveyor: Geoff Beardsley and Partners
Services Engineer: Enhabit
Structural Engineer: CAR Ltd
Contractor: Ben Palmer-Page

PROCESS

Our aim was to carefully restore and upgrade the building, first and foremost as a comfortable three-bedroom family home and secondly to reinstate the now defunct workroom at the heart of the building to its original use as a working sculpture studio for the client, who is a practicing artist and sculptor herself.

Historic evidence shows that damp has been a persistent issue from the time of the domestic conversion. A new, breathable, thermal and damp-proofing strategy was developed with Donald Insall Architects that respected the historic elements of the building.

Site Plan

The whole house was considered as an artwork, with sliding doors as canvases for murals and opportinities for bespoke tiling and terrazzo to the floors.

Axonometric

New bedrooms were fitted out with carefully designed joinery infills, with fitted beds, staircases and storage. Colour was used to add special character to each room. The master bedroom is contained within the very restricted space behind the fireplace, with separate doors for either side of the bed.