Bavaria Road Studio

Tags: private homes, steel, refurbishment

Related projects: Caroline Place

Bavaria Road
Bavaria Road
Stair profile
Detail

Once a Methodist Chapel, this double-height space in North London now serves as a live/work studio apartment for former Director of The School of Life, Morgwn Rimel.

In the first phase of the project, a new mezzanine floor and staircase was introduced. Every element of the design is structural. The plywood balustrade to the mezzanine is solid, acting as the primary support for the structure in the form of a thin deep beam that suspends the mezzanine from the existing roof structure. The plywood floor deck is the compression flange of a stressed skin floor.

Access to the new mezzanine space is via a folded steel staircase which touches the new structure in only one place. Its risers and goings perform as the diagonals on the truss that supports it.

In 2016 the project was extended and reinterpreted. A new room – constructed as a stressed skin plywood box - was inserted into previously unused roof space, accessed via a stair from the main space. The kitchen, main space and bathroom were all upgraded, but the mezzanine and staircase remain unchanged.

Awards

  1. Dezeen Awards 2018, shortlisted, 8 2018
  2. Don't Move, Improve! 2017, shortlisted, 1 2017
  3. AJ Small Projects Awards 2007, shortlisted, 1 2007
  4. Wood Awards 2006, Small Projects, winner, 1 2005