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Kitchen Tour: Crittall Doors Flood This Airy Extension With Light
Part of a double-height addition to a Victorian house, this kitchen features marble, parquet flooring and a luxe larder
There are many architectural approaches to the classic Victorian house side return extension – where should the island go (if you want one), should it be the cooker or sink that gives you a view of the garden, and where’s the best spot for a dining table?
Good architectural advice is essential to navigate all the options well and tailor your extension to the way you use your home. Sebastian Camisuli of Martins Camisuli, the duo behind this impressive, double-height extension, explains how they did that for a young family while maximising storage, stylishly complying with fire regulations, and creating a particularly impressive ceiling.
Good architectural advice is essential to navigate all the options well and tailor your extension to the way you use your home. Sebastian Camisuli of Martins Camisuli, the duo behind this impressive, double-height extension, explains how they did that for a young family while maximising storage, stylishly complying with fire regulations, and creating a particularly impressive ceiling.
This photo, looking the other way from the top of the steps, shows the view of the garden and how the new extension connects with the living room.
“Crittall windows were a big part of that. They’re great – very transparent, incredibly light. They feel more like a screen than a barrier,” Sebastian says.
Allure rug, Mint Rugs at Wayfair. Hardwood floor, Istoria by Jordan Andrews. Flos IC S1 pendant light, Paper Rooms. Wall lights, The Wall Lighting Company. Mirror, West Elm. Side table, Swoon Editions. Brando grey velvet armchair, Graham & Green. Light blue armchair, Do South. Living room walls painted in Slaked Lime Dark, Little Greene.
“Crittall windows were a big part of that. They’re great – very transparent, incredibly light. They feel more like a screen than a barrier,” Sebastian says.
Allure rug, Mint Rugs at Wayfair. Hardwood floor, Istoria by Jordan Andrews. Flos IC S1 pendant light, Paper Rooms. Wall lights, The Wall Lighting Company. Mirror, West Elm. Side table, Swoon Editions. Brando grey velvet armchair, Graham & Green. Light blue armchair, Do South. Living room walls painted in Slaked Lime Dark, Little Greene.
A consideration when creating kitchen and dining zones within the same room is continuity of style – how to make the two spaces flow together, but also how to demarcate them.
In the bottom right-hand corner of this photo, you can see the TV unit that belongs to the dining area. To tackle both considerations, Sebastian chose the same paint for the unit doors, and extended the kitchen shelving to unite the spaces, but also swapped the kitchen’s marble tops for oak to give the unit more of a dining room feel.
The big skylight also serves to tie the two parts of the extension together, as well as boosting daylight. “The extension is east-facing, so there isn’t an issue with solar gain,” Sebastian says. “You get the morning sun, which doesn’t have too much heat in it, so in fact you want to maximise that heat.”
Browse the reviews and portfolio photos of architects in your area.
In the bottom right-hand corner of this photo, you can see the TV unit that belongs to the dining area. To tackle both considerations, Sebastian chose the same paint for the unit doors, and extended the kitchen shelving to unite the spaces, but also swapped the kitchen’s marble tops for oak to give the unit more of a dining room feel.
The big skylight also serves to tie the two parts of the extension together, as well as boosting daylight. “The extension is east-facing, so there isn’t an issue with solar gain,” Sebastian says. “You get the morning sun, which doesn’t have too much heat in it, so in fact you want to maximise that heat.”
Browse the reviews and portfolio photos of architects in your area.
The island houses the dishwasher, bins and a drawer beneath the sink, the latter a canny touch that avoids the problem of having hard-to-reach items at the back of this often tricksy cupboard area.
The sink, which faces the garden, provides a peaceful view of greenery through the Crittall windows and forms one point of the classic sink/cooker/fridge triangle (the fridge is opposite the hob, out of shot).
The island and perimeter units are painted in a very dark blue and clad in contrasting white Calacatta marble.
Cabinets painted in Basalt; walls painted in French Grey (Pale), both Little Green. Bar stools, Rockett St George. Hand-blown pendant lights (over island), Rothschild & Bickers. Tap, Caple.
The sink, which faces the garden, provides a peaceful view of greenery through the Crittall windows and forms one point of the classic sink/cooker/fridge triangle (the fridge is opposite the hob, out of shot).
The island and perimeter units are painted in a very dark blue and clad in contrasting white Calacatta marble.
Cabinets painted in Basalt; walls painted in French Grey (Pale), both Little Green. Bar stools, Rockett St George. Hand-blown pendant lights (over island), Rothschild & Bickers. Tap, Caple.
The splashback tiles also provide a visual juxtaposition. “The zellige tiles add beautiful texture and reflection and have a gorgeous patina,” Sebastian says. “They move you away from the clinical feel you can get with glass or stone and introduce a bit of character. They have an uneven surface – that’s how they break up the light and reflect it in different ways – and this contrasts well with the incredibly flat surface of the marble.”
Floating shelves replace units on the back wall. “We lined them up with the extractor fan to create a fluid sightline,” Sebastian explains.
The drawers by the stairs – one per step – were designed to not waste a centimetre and make the most of this space for storage.
Pendant lights (over cooker); cupboard door handles, all Buster + Punch. Lacanche dual fuel range cooker, eBay. Smoked bronze zellige tiles, Mosaic Del Sur.
Floating shelves replace units on the back wall. “We lined them up with the extractor fan to create a fluid sightline,” Sebastian explains.
The drawers by the stairs – one per step – were designed to not waste a centimetre and make the most of this space for storage.
Pendant lights (over cooker); cupboard door handles, all Buster + Punch. Lacanche dual fuel range cooker, eBay. Smoked bronze zellige tiles, Mosaic Del Sur.
Here you can see the steps coming down from the living room into the kitchen. “Now there are five steps, but there used to be three,” Sebastian says. “You can see this part of the extension has been given that additional height.” Everything below the steps was originally external space.
The lower section of the ceiling seen on the left here is the height of the original floor to the bedroom above. The higher level of brand-new ceiling is the underside of the floor in the new family bathroom above.
“We looked at many different options of where to put the kitchen units,” Sebastian says. “In terms of configuring the space, what you want is an uninterrupted view from the living room.”
As such, the taller units were built in the darker area on the left – floor-to-ceiling, to maximise space – while the island occupies that centre spot, allowing room for a dining area in front of the large windows onto the garden.
Hanging planters, Camden garden centre.
The lower section of the ceiling seen on the left here is the height of the original floor to the bedroom above. The higher level of brand-new ceiling is the underside of the floor in the new family bathroom above.
“We looked at many different options of where to put the kitchen units,” Sebastian says. “In terms of configuring the space, what you want is an uninterrupted view from the living room.”
As such, the taller units were built in the darker area on the left – floor-to-ceiling, to maximise space – while the island occupies that centre spot, allowing room for a dining area in front of the large windows onto the garden.
Hanging planters, Camden garden centre.
The larder is perfectly positioned in the centre of the fridge/sink/hob work triangle and contains several useful features. “It has a marble worktop at counter level for your cheeses and things,” Sebastian says. “When the doors are open, it gives you that additional workspace, but you can also hide any mid-cooking mess if you shut them.
“There are shelf racks on the doors for spices, and it has adjustable shelves,” he adds. In addition, LED strips inside illuminate all corners.
To the left of the larder is a fully glazed pocket fire door (open, so not visible). It has a four-inch frame and recessed handles, making it as discreet as possible while complying with the strict fire regulations for open-plan spaces.
The light switches and sockets have a pewter finish, which works well with the paint and coordinates with the taps.
“There are shelf racks on the doors for spices, and it has adjustable shelves,” he adds. In addition, LED strips inside illuminate all corners.
To the left of the larder is a fully glazed pocket fire door (open, so not visible). It has a four-inch frame and recessed handles, making it as discreet as possible while complying with the strict fire regulations for open-plan spaces.
The light switches and sockets have a pewter finish, which works well with the paint and coordinates with the taps.
“This view really shows you how the space works,” Sebastian says. “What you can’t see, though, is the huge effort that’s gone into integrating the structure. You have a flush ceiling front to back, because we integrated the steel with the floor and walls as much as possible.
“This is what gives you such clean lines,” he says. “One of our pet hates is having downstands and bulkheads, because of the shadows they create.”
Having the skylight at a higher level enhances the effect of this floating ceiling. “We wanted the ceiling to be a clean background, so the bits you do notice are the skylights and the light coming down through them, rather than focusing on how the ceiling was made.”
The architects also maximised the opening to the garden. “We pushed the steelwork right to the sides, so the two piers are as small as you can have them without interfering with the party walls,” Sebastian explains.
“It does increase the cost,” he adds, “because brickwork is a fraction of the price of Crittall windows – around £250 per sq m versus around £1,000 per sq m – but it will make the property much more sellable.”
The skylights have been carefully positioned to wash the vertical surfaces without the room becoming a greenhouse. The skylight on the right deliberately allows light to fall behind the dining table, rather than directly onto it.
The artificial lighting is equally subtle, particularly in its absence of spotlights. Three light sources cover task lighting for cooking or reading, feature lighting in the pendants, and background lighting washing the walls.
“In a residential setting, there’s no need to have all-over lighting,” Sebastian says. “It’s about layering, creating atmosphere; it shouldn’t all be fighting each other.”
The patio features a herringbone pattern in the paviors, which are a dark-coloured Dutch brick to go with the door frame. The garden itself has two beds on either side, built up with railway sleepers and the steps up to the garden. “The wood softens it up,” Sebastian says, “and, in time, that new wood will mellow into a lighter grey.”
Dining table, Wayfair. Novak Green dining chairs, Graham & Green.
Tell us…
What do you like about this kitchen extension – and which ideas would you borrow for your own project? Let us know in the Comments section.
“This is what gives you such clean lines,” he says. “One of our pet hates is having downstands and bulkheads, because of the shadows they create.”
Having the skylight at a higher level enhances the effect of this floating ceiling. “We wanted the ceiling to be a clean background, so the bits you do notice are the skylights and the light coming down through them, rather than focusing on how the ceiling was made.”
The architects also maximised the opening to the garden. “We pushed the steelwork right to the sides, so the two piers are as small as you can have them without interfering with the party walls,” Sebastian explains.
“It does increase the cost,” he adds, “because brickwork is a fraction of the price of Crittall windows – around £250 per sq m versus around £1,000 per sq m – but it will make the property much more sellable.”
The skylights have been carefully positioned to wash the vertical surfaces without the room becoming a greenhouse. The skylight on the right deliberately allows light to fall behind the dining table, rather than directly onto it.
The artificial lighting is equally subtle, particularly in its absence of spotlights. Three light sources cover task lighting for cooking or reading, feature lighting in the pendants, and background lighting washing the walls.
“In a residential setting, there’s no need to have all-over lighting,” Sebastian says. “It’s about layering, creating atmosphere; it shouldn’t all be fighting each other.”
The patio features a herringbone pattern in the paviors, which are a dark-coloured Dutch brick to go with the door frame. The garden itself has two beds on either side, built up with railway sleepers and the steps up to the garden. “The wood softens it up,” Sebastian says, “and, in time, that new wood will mellow into a lighter grey.”
Dining table, Wayfair. Novak Green dining chairs, Graham & Green.
Tell us…
What do you like about this kitchen extension – and which ideas would you borrow for your own project? Let us know in the Comments section.
Who lives here? A professional couple with two young children
Location Camden, north London
Property An early Victorian terraced house
Kitchen dimensions 7 x 5.5m
Designer Sebastian Camisuli and Ana Martins of Martins Camisuli Architects
Photos by Alex Maguire
“The house was in a state of disrepair,” Sebastian says of the property before work began. “Each space was small, enclosed and very dark. It was in a bad way and needed to be taken back to bricks and mortar. The aim was to open it up as much as possible and make it more fluid and airy.”
The kitchen project was part of a whole house refurbishment, which involved putting in new floors and a new roof. Downstairs, it was an opportunity for the architects to create a new layout, which included building out and to the side to create a double-height extension. (Above the kitchen are a bedroom and en suite – look out for a story about that part of the project at a later date.)