Issue 46 April 25 web - Flipbook - Page 87
Pricegore retrofits
Modernist townhouse
in Chelsea
Pricegore has revived and extended a brutalist townhouse in the London Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea, radically enhancing thermal performance and energy efficiency in what may prove to be a
model for the conservation and adaptation of modernist architecture.
The clients who admired the 1960’s block for some time
purchased the house in 2020 becoming its second owners.
In need of major renovation, they appointed Pricegore to
rework the building and reconfigure the five-bedroom
home into a generous three-bedroom plan, with living
spaces better suited to contemporary family life.
Noticing a significant level change to the garden of a
neighbouring property, Pricegore’s investigations into the
site’s history found that the current block had replaced a
terrace of Victorian houses. This discovery unlocked the
opportunity to excavate 1.4 metres to rediscover the
split-level character of the site and introduce generous
volume to the modernist shell. The deep foundations of
the building allowed this to be done without the need for
costly underpinning. The resulting 3.6 metre high living
space adopts the brutalist language of the existing
building, with exposed concrete retaining walls, sills, and
kitchen worktops. With its subterranean character and
immediate relation to the lushly planted garden, the
interior may also recall the modernist homes of midcentury Brazil.
At first floor level, the potential of the existing formal
living room has been realised with new floor to ceiling
glazing that slides back to give the room a loggia-like character. The tall plants and grasses on the roof of the ground
floor extension provide a green threshold to the room,
and add a sense of privacy from the surrounding homes.
Via a sliding partition the living room gives on to a small
cabinet-like film room. A space that can also perform the
role of guest bedroom.
