Piazza Penthouse, London
2018The focal point of the design is the top lit two storey ‘piazza’ that brings daylight into the heart of the deep plan of this Victorian warehouse near Vauxhall. The Piazza links the key spaces and both floors of the apartment, providing the opening chapter of the project’s story.
The building’s industrial heritage is celebrated architecturally with raw materials and bold contemporary elements, such as the zinc roof and dormer extensions, the steel staircases, mesh wall cladding, and a moving metal screen that conceals the kitchen. Internal walls are finished in exposed render with poured concrete floors containing under floor heating. Bespoke cast concrete tiles clad the vanity, stair wall and other interior features.
'Transforming a once-empty industrial space into a home of theatrical proportions.
And for this space, scale is a defining feature. The southern façade is spanned by monumental Crittall-style glazing – the soaring ceiling heights near cathedral-like. The sheer volume led the studio to divide the site: the homeowner inherited one half – still a generous 3,700 sq ft over two floors – and Foster Lomas began sculpting a scheme that was both ambitious and personal.
The entrance was a natural starting point, a space transformed to function beyond a threshold. A soaring, light-filled volume, it opens upwards rather than along to create a cinematic sense of arrival. But this was no spectacle for spectacle’s sake, insists Greg. For guests – of the homeowner or short stays – it sets the tone. “We knew the homeowner had an eccentric style,” he muses. “The architecture needed to carry that confidence from the get-go, but also feel authentic.”
A mezzanine was inserted to link the bedrooms, while skylights flood light through the 20-foot ceiling. The result is theatrical, almost ecclesiastical in its drama – yet tempered with details that remind you this is still a home.'
Words by Domus Stay
www.domusstay.com/journal/park-views-penthouse-drama-at-lawn-lane/
Photography by Michael Franke
