Space makers

5 April 2012

Tim Hunter works as a biochemist, but his free time is devoted to music. He loves to give parties, spinning the sounds on his own professional DJ decks. So when he bought his two-bedroom three-storey 1890s Islington terraced house in 1999, it was clear he was going to need more space than its tiny, poorly lit rooms provided.

His original thought was to replace the existing conservatory. But, after bringing in Nadi Jahangiri and Ken Hutt of m3 architects, he decided on a more radical transformation, which has given him the perfect house for parties and 50 per cent more space.

The basement is now a single long space, accommodating the dining area, kitchen and a spectacular garden room with a two-level glass ceiling, housing the DJ decks and connecting seamlessly with a state-of-the-art garden, created by sinking the original raised garden.

The two small ground-floor rooms have been converted into a chill-out area, with a cushion-heaped dais for relaxing to music or watching the TV and a rear door opening onto a frosted glass terrace (the lower level of the garden-room ceiling).

A fourth storey has been created from the roof space to provide a new master bedroom and bathroom, its glass rear wall and balcony offering yet more interaction with the garden.

Light floods in everywhere; even the top staircase borrows light from the balcony's glass end wall. And straight lines are a theme, exemplified by the straight-as-an-arrow view through the entire basement from the front window to the rear garden, with its dominant verticals and horizontals.

This strict discipline of line has an oriental feel that forms the perfect showcase for Hunter's other passion: the statues and carvings he has collected during his travels in Thailand and Burma.

The client

Having bought the house for £323,000, Hunter, 33, lived in it for six months before searching for architects. He found m3 through the RIBA, and after talking to Jahangiri and Hutt, he decided there was no need to investigate other firms.

"They were obviously incredibly dynamic, with very good suggestions and connections. From the first sketches it was clear they understood what I wanted. I don't recall ever saying, 'no way, back to the drawing board'. We were always moving forwards and it was very much a collaboration. The whole thing was unifying the basement space, that was key, and incorporating the outside into the house."

While m3 designed the structures, including the kitchen and the master bathroom, interior designer Fig was brought in for the chill-out room, Sian Quarren Evans landscaped the garden and Hunter's own input is evident throughout, from the overall colour scheme of whites, neutrals, blacks and greys with splashes of vivid colour, to the emphasis on textured woods - the beautiful fitted cherrywood wardrobes in the master bedroom were commissioned by him.

Costs rose, taking his original £100,000 budget to £240,000, but he was happy he was getting the design he wanted. What made him less happy was the time the conversion took.

A projected 16 weeks, starting in February 2001, turned into two years, partly because of unforeseen hitches - a concrete air-raid shelter had to be dug out of the garden and the Victorian garden walls underpinned - but mainly because of difficulties with the builders.

The first construction company was fired after delays and poor workmanship. And the company that completed the work, while delivering excellent quality, was a small outfit: "They didn't have the size to really run with the project, so it was bit by bit."

Hunter had moved out for the first six months - "essentially the place was a shell, it was pretty drastic" - but he was forced to return while there was still no kitchen and dust everywhere.

Now that the conversion is finally finished, he is more philosophical. "I've decided it's been worth the trouble and it's perfect. I've got space to do what I enjoy doing, playing the decks."

The architects

Small domestic projects are m3's staple, although the company also designs hotels and offices. The partners, Nadi Jahangiri and Ken Hutt, collaborate on all projects, although one always takes the lead - on this project it was Jahangiri.

Since the house is in a conservation area, there were planning permission challenges in adding two extensions to "a very small footprint". But the other houses in the terrace already had mansard roofs, and the planners were happy, as long as the front of the new mansard conformed to the rest, while Jahangiri succeeded in arguing that the back gardens had been so altered that the dramatic glass terrace and roof of the rear extension were allowable.

The converted basement works on what he calls "the kebab-skewer principle: lumps of space strung out on a straight line. The straight lines are a central part of discerning what was added. It's not contextual, you'll be able to tell what's new, that will be obvious."

Hunter, he says, was "a great client. He was quite happy for us to suggest things, I really do think he had no preconceived ideas. But you get a sense really early on how the house is going to be used and with Tim's it was parties, it's like a stage for him."

He found Hunter relaxed, too, about the increased costs as the design developed, understanding that "there's no point if you want a Ferrari and have a budget for a mini". The building delays were another matter. Jahangiri says: "It's a perennial problem with projects of that size: they're too big for a handyman but too small for a builder who subcontracts."

The second team of builders, Block, although "very slow", provided the quality the project required: "They're fine-art students who do painting and decorating to fund projects. They're very good at detail, and we're using them again." He stresses that the delays did not cost Hunter money: "He's not out of pocket, just out of time."

Conversion details

Initial budget: £100,000

Actual cost: £240,000

Projected build time: 16 weeks

Actual build time two years

Costs

Structural engineer's fee: £2,200

Preparatory work, including digging out garden and underpinning: £12,600

Construction of glass terrace and roof to basement extension: £46,200

Kitchen, including Smeg appliances and concrete worktops from Totem (020 7243 0692): £32,000

Conversion of ground-floor room, including chill-out platform, shelving, storage and interior design by Fig (020 7373 8280): £12,600

Construction of fourth storey, including en-suite bathroom and built-in wardrobes by Greville Marchant (020 8202 1844): £46,000

First-floor bathroom and basement loo: £6,800

Lighting: £9,400

Architect's fee: 14.5 per cent of final construction cost

Increase in value: the house, bought in 1999 for £323,000, has now been valued at £680,000, but obviously some of this increase is due to the rising market. For Hunter the main point is: "It's a beautiful home and I enjoy it."