Burgoyne Road

Harringay Ladder, North London

House refurbishment and kitchen / diner extension

A three storey semi-detached Victorian house was extended and fully renovated to create a home for a young family.

At ground floor, the arrangement of reception rooms at the front of the property is retained and a new kitchen / diner was constructed at the rear.

Period features have been reinstated and the fire places refurbished. An en-suite bathroom has been created by removing internal walls and borrowing space from the existing generous bedrooms. The existing bathroom has been remodelled to create a wet room.

The sensitive refurbishment is complemented by a rich and sophisticated material palette for the modern additions, which provide a subtle background for a discerning collection of carefully selected items of furniture and fittings.

We hired Trevor Brown for the design and project delivery stages of our conversion of a Victorian semi. In total he worked with us for over a year, and helped to deliver a very successful project despite some difficult moments.

We selected Trevor because of his enthusiasm and knowledge, and because he immediately understood our vision for the project.

As soon as we started work with him, we were struck by his energy, creativity and work ethic. Trevor explains his ideas very clearly and also really enjoys drawing, illustrating every detail and lots of different options for specific features. He has a great sense for how the parts of a building will come together and create a coherent overall result. He also has a great feel for materials and has lots of interesting ideas and sources.

Altogether, Trevor made the design phase a really enjoyable and positive experience. This was despite the fact that we were both working full time and often our meetings with him would finish near midnight. It also meant that we went into the project delivery phase with a very clear idea, and nearly all of the decisions worked out.

Trevor also has a strong eye for detail and a very professional approach. He ran an neat tender process between seven general contractors, providing a very comprehensive pack which really helped differentiate between them.

Through the build, Trevor provided detailed certificates and was present on site whenever needed, building a good relationship with the general contractor. He was on top of progress and particularly useful for the snagging process at the end, helping to deliver the really good finish we wanted.

We would not hesitate to recommend Trevor and will certainly use him for any future projects.

Client

Featured in Open House 2014