St Georges House

A Victorian house in London with a generous but underused garden has been reworked from below. The original ground floor sat roughly two metres above garden level and the undercroft beneath it was used only for storage. Paul Archer Design lowered the undercroft floor and recast it as a full new storey, tied directly to the garden so the connection between house and outdoor space is finally usable.

To make the most of that change, a double-height void replaces a section of the original ground floor. A frameless glass box opens that taller space straight onto the garden. A curving concrete staircase, cast on site by the contractor, sweeps from the front entrance down to a family kitchen at garden level. A new light well cut above the stairwell pulls daylight deep into the plan and gives a sense of drama on arrival.

Upstairs, the bathrooms and bedrooms have been reorganised and an internal Juliet balcony onto the light well lets you look down through three floors to the family space below. On the top floor, the ceiling has been opened to the underside of the hipped roof, producing a master suite with generous volume and height.

Project budget: GBP 580,000. Completed 2019.

Architects: Paul Archer Design (lead architect Robert Sterry). Structural engineers: Symmetrys. Contractor: B&A Woodworking. Photography: Andy Stagg.