1950's commercial buildings become a contemporary home

With its pastel-coloured Victorian houses and sleepy gardens, it is little wonder that Primrose Hill is one of London's most desirable areas to live in. But it was not one of these houses on which a young property developer set his sights when looking for a house in the area. Instead, he bought a courtyard of dilapidated Fifties commercial buildings, including a garage and office buildings, which was tucked between a Victorian terrace and the railway line.

His plan was to refurbish and transform them into a three-bedroom house for himself and four self-contained flats, which he would then let out. An acquaintance recommended that he get in touch with Uwe Schmidt-Hess of Patalab Architecture, who had helped him with the modernisation of his London town house.

Patalab Architecture, which Uwe founded in 2008, is known for creating intriguing spaces with an innovative use of materials and finishes. 'We aspire to create architecture with character and buildings with an identity of their own,' Uwe explains. What it faced certainly had character: the existing buildings were disparate, with a flat-roof garage and a workshop with a residential unit stuck on top, and a collection of one- and two-storey ancillary buildings. Some of these had outside steps up to them and balconies. But what was lacking was any sense of identity.

This was remedied by adding a new dark brick outer layer to the exterior of the buildings. Not only did this give the various elements a visual unity, the cavity walls also provide extra insulation. The brick was chosen to blend with the non-rendered rear of the adjoining Victorian terrace houses. Depending on how the light falls, the metallic glaze on the walls glistens in various hues ranging from greyish brown to bronze. The flat roof of the former garage, now the kitchen and dining area, was grassed - a stipulation imposed by the local council, which is aiming to improve the microclimate in the city by creating as much greenery as possible.

Radically gutted, reordered and refitted, and boasting skylights as well as large windows, the main building is now a bright and comfortable house with around 250 square metres of living space on three floors. To create more height, the ground floor was lowered by almost a metre, while a staircase positioned in the middle is a key feature of the redesign. Although made of concrete, it is covered almost entirely in stained and oiled solid oak panelling, making it look like an oversize piece of furniture.

On the ground floor are spaces for seating and dining, as well as the kitchen and library. In order to give the different areas their own identity, Uwe played with ceiling heights and architectural angles. The extra large sofa in front of the fireplace was lowered 45cm into the ground to form a sunken seating area. The lowered sofa leads the eyes towards the dining area to enhance the open-plan feeling of the living space. A brass chandelier by the Canadian-born and London-based product designer Philippe Malouin adds the final touch to the seating area, which is framed on two sides by a podium.

Upstairs are three bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom; the main bedroom also has an adjacent dressing room. And from this floor, a narrow staircase leads up to the roof, where a small private terrace sits like an eagle's nest at the top of the house. Air, light and views of the London surroundings - what a luxury right in the middle of London.

Patalab Architecture: patalab.com