The three bedroom house just off King’s Road in South Kensington was built for the workers of “The Great Exhibition” in 1851. Throughout the years it had been modified and extended into its original courtyard several times. The result was a rather complex structure with changes of floor and ceiling levels within a very confined space. The kitchen and dining area in particular consisted of several small areas and only a tiny remainder of the original courtyard.
By taking out all the walls in the kitchen and incorporating the rest of the courtyard, a big open space was created. What had previously been four small separated spaces is now one large room. Two cross spanning steel beams were introduced to hold up the floor above. The previously open courtyard has been converted into a completely glassed light-well bringing natural light into a windowless space.
A rather small but radical intervention has changed a fragmented kitchen into a remarkably open and modern space.
