The client was moving from a Central London apartment to a 1960’s house in suburban Croydon and wanted to recreate the open-ness and lightness that he enjoyed in his modern apartment. He wanted an open-plan space that would work for both entertaining and comfortable everyday living when he was home alone.

Instead of adding an extension, nimtim proposed to reorganise the ground floor by using the internal garage at the front of the house as a snug and then moving the kitchen into a central location so that it would allow the client to welcome new visitors while remaining connected to those in the living and dining spaces. The angled kitchen is orientated to draw people into the space and frame views of the garden. This creates a dynamic play between the new spaces.

Key to the concept was making the existing ground floor interior feel like an extension of the garden. Materials were carefully considered, particularly in terms of flooring, allowing each space to be intimate within an open plan layout. The floor materials transition through the space along angled thresholds, gradually becoming more robust and external. Rich oak parquet floor with timber blocks line the snug. This gives way to warm earthy terracotta square tiles and finally a harder but still warm toned red brick paver laid out in a basket weave. The brick pavers continue into the rear garden forming an external angled terrace that merges the interior and exterior spaces.

A palette of muted green joinery forms the kitchen, integrated storage, bench seating and an open staircase within the ground floor. The result is an open but articulated space full of light and colour.