A sculptural blue-stained staircase is the focal point of this former coach house in Peckham, south London, which has been renovated by British architecture studio Foils.
Named Cobalt Coach House, the home was bought by Foils’ founder Ned Scott for his family and opened up with his studio to create more space and a better layout for his two young children.
Like other coach houses in Victorian London, Cobalt Coach House was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages, with living spaces above.
According to Foils, it required remodelling due to this unusual layout, which had been subject to a series of alterations, and the presence of stairs that did not comply with building regulations.
“The original house was the product of lots of incremental and ad-hoc alterations by the previous owner which meant that lots of elements needed renewing or replacing altogether,” Scott told Dezeen.
Starting from scratch, Foils removed all the house’s internal walls, except for a masonry spine, and propped up the floors and roof while a new internal steel structure was installed.
Characterful details from the original architecture, such as its coach door openings and a twisting chimney breast, were also retained.
These alterations allowed Foils to create a new second level and a full-width, double-height entry space.
With only a small garden at the rear, Foils flipped the living space to the front of the home where it looks over an enclosed courtyard off the street. The bedrooms and a utility space have been moved to the rear.
“A key design idea was to maximise light through the street-facing facade by introducing a double-height space and improving the connection to the front courtyard, which has now become a more usable terrace,” explained Scott.
The remodelled Cobalt Coach House now comprises three storeys with a living room, dining room, kitchen and utility room on the ground floor, and a downstairs toilet squeezed in under the stairs.
On the first floor, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. This level has internal windows to draw natural light in and to allow views out over the double-height space below. The second floor has a third double bedroom, a single bedroom which doubles up as an office space and another bathroom.
The new staircase was custom-made for the house and constructed in five parts before being assembled on site. It is made from sheets of 24-millimetre-thick birch-faced plywood, assembled by two carpenters.
Once installed, the stair was tinted with a light primary blue stain that reveals the wood grain beneath.
“I’ve always been interested in the design of stairs and as the house required a new one, it was a great opportunity to make it into a key feature of the new design,” Scott said.
In the living space, the unusual chimney breast becomes a main feature and the original tall openings have been retained and accentuated with a bright blue door.
Cobalt Coach House’s interiors are modern and clean with exposed brick walls painted white, with injections of colour in the doors and block colour flooring on the upper levels.
Scott and his partner designed many of the home’s furniture pieces themselves, including the dining room table that is made from terrazzo with a chocolate-brown base of engineered wood.
The couple were also behind the design of the living room chairs, which are made from powder-coated steel frames with slung leather seats crafted by Charlie Borrow, a leathersmith based in Shoreditch.
To give the coach house a contemporary presence on the street, Foils added a new gate made of galvanised steel with corrugated panels.
Cobalt Coach House is the first completed project by Foils, a studio established by Scott last year. Other London renovations recently featured on Dezeen include a wildflower-topped extension in Stoke Newington and a colourful home featuring a cat climbing frame and a cosy window seat.
The photography is courtesy of Foils.
The post Foils remodels Cobalt Coach House around blue plywood staircase appeared first on Dezeen.
