Bloomsbury Town House

BLOOMSBURY, LONDON
COMPLETED: 2016
Listed: Grade II
Interior Designer: Emily Bizley
PHOTOGRAPHY: Adam Parker

Built in 1820, this grade II listed Georgian town house in Bloomsbury had been used for many years as offices. Our brief was to turn it back into a beautiful family home with the added ambitious target of pushing its energy efficiency towards Passivhaus Enerphit standard.

Working with Interior designer Emily Bizley, We unpicked, restored and remodeled the interiors, respecting the Georgian fabric and complementing it with modern interventions. Details such as cornices, handrails and skirtings were painstakingly repaired, integrating elements from various eras and deliberately avoiding confrontation between them.

The rooms can be treated as separate spaces or opened up as a sequence of interconnected rooms, enabled by carefully placed doorways, some re-instated and some new. The flow of space is enlivened by the control of daylight, which is brought down to the lower levels by a new light well. A new roof terrace at the rear of the house provides a private outdoor space for dining and relaxing.

Our work has transformed the energy efficiency of the house, reducing the overall space heating demand by 95% from 160kWhr/m2a to 20kWhr/m2a, and the air leakage from 8 to 1.0 ACH. The energy strategy relies on an intricately planned and installed insulation approach and an advanced secondary glazing system developed for this house with a leading supplier. Careful negotiation was required with the local authority conservation officer to allow the original window surrounds to be dismantled and reassembled incorporating the secondary glazing, resulting in an innovative 21st century evolution of the sash window. A mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery (MVHR) minimises heat loss and provides excellent air quality. The level of energy efficiency achieved is testament to the determination of our fantastic clients to push for the best possible performance.