This house in a West London terrace, formerly a hotel, was reconstructed to create a family dwelling. Each space of this six-storey listed building – complete with cornices, architraves and skirtings – was first redefined by means of new “mats” laid over the existing floor surfaces. The selection of materials for these mats – ranging from hardwood and stone, to rubber, screed, gravel, carpet and leather – was to give each of the various rooms a certain atmosphere and basic role within the house.

A series of large, mainly free-standing pieces of furniture inhabit these newly defined spaces, providing the necessary storage for everyday living. With their rich and contrasting textures and materials – rubber, concrete, hardwood, steel and lacquer – these elements create new foci amidst the language of the existing fabric. They further function as elements to reorganise the spaces of the house: they enclose, complement and sometimes intercept the old structure of the building. One of these pieces assumes the scale of the room, providing a patterned wall-painting as a netted lining to the existing envelope.