London townhouse gets natural makeover

A London townhouse, located in a charming pocket between Holland Park, Notting Hill, and Ladbroke Grove, has been transformed by BOMA Projects into a natural grandeur-filled home. The building, which had barely been touched since the 1980s, was divided into smaller flats before being bought by its present owner, a tech entrepreneur from Copenhagen.

The owner wanted his new base to feel earthy, warm, and tactile, while still respectful of the history of the building, and brought in BOMA Projects to achieve that. The work was led by Georgia Burne, co-founder and director of the London-based practice.

Georgia Burne found traces of the original grandeur, discernible in the four-metre-high ceilings and full-height French doors, but other ceilings had been lowered, the layout was disjointed, and a metal spiral staircase had been inserted into the main living space. They intended to uncover what was already inherently beautiful about the property.

Restoring the Original Grandeur

That meant reinstating the ceiling heights, restoring the proportions of the main rooms, and celebrating the natural light. A new central staircase was introduced, which became a sculptural element in its own right, giving the space back the sense of permanence it had lost.

The brief was about balancing functionality and feeling, with every design decision beginning with the architecture and the light. Georgia Burne also focused on restoring a sense of scale, as the property had been broken into smaller spaces, and she wanted the rooms to feel generous again.

Construction Challenges

Achieving the desired result was no mean feat, as construction techniques have come a long way since the 1980s. Once the space was stripped back to brick and floor joists, it was clear that a lot more work was needed to accommodate underfloor heating and ensure the timber floor would align perfectly throughout the rooms.

Installing a new staircase in the centre of the space also meant additional strengthening to the floor below was needed. Each structural decision had to balance practicality and aesthetics and had a knock-on effect on the layout. This required a lot of conversation and idea generation between the engineers and the design team.

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Marcus Moore, BOMA Projects director and co-founder, notes that they spent a great deal of time choosing the right products in advance, with millimetres to spare, to create levels that satisfied both the flow of the space and the existing parts of the property.

Design and Materials

The earthy, tonal palette relies more on texture and materiality than colour, with the Versailles flooring custom-made for the space and tumbled to give it the character and irregularity of a reclaimed floor before being finished in a dark smoked oak.

Georgia Burne explains that they wanted something that felt appropriate to the age of the building without simply reproducing a traditional period interior. The dark timber was paired with warm clay walls and ornate coving, skirting, and architectural detailing.

Furniture, lighting, and art were kept relatively restrained and sculptural, with the team wanting individual pieces to have space around them and almost be read as objects in their own right. A huge amount was bespoke, so they were able to consider every element as part of the architecture.

Georgia Burne is particularly satisfied with the main bathroom, where tadelakt was used on the walls and colour-matched to the clay finish used throughout the rest of the property. Blue Fusion marble brings movement and colour into the restrained palette.

The result is a home that has regained its grandeur and elegance, but doesn’t feel like a traditional period interior. It feels calm, tactile, and contemporary, and very much like the client’s home, with a masculine quality softened by natural materials, traditional detailing, and an abundance of light.

For more information, visit bomaprojects.com and sothebysrealty.co.uk