Houzz Tour: An Attic Conversion Adds Space and Light
Huge skylights and a glass-and-steel staircase transform this north London apartment
The potential to convert the attic above this apartment, in a Victorian building in north London, was a key draw for its designer and owner, Ewan Walker. Gaining government planning permission took time, though, so this stylish home was created in two waves, with the lower floor opened up and modernized first, and the attic space converted a year later.
Walker chose a simple color scheme to help the space feel open and airy. “It’s very modern, very clean, almost Scandi-looking,” he says. The flooring throughout is a pale engineered oak. “I chose boards that are as wide and long as possible, and they run continuously through this floor,” he says.
The clean-lined kitchen is a Bulthaup design. “I’ve fitted Ikea kitchens in the past, which are great, but wanted to try something different,” Walker says. “I splashed out on beautiful German cabinets and Gaggenau appliances.”
B1 kitchen: Bulthaup; Yeoman zinc table collection: Habitat
B1 kitchen: Bulthaup; Yeoman zinc table collection: Habitat
To warm up the living room, Walker added a wall of reclaimed brick. “I tried to keep the space quite neutral, but I didn’t want it looking bland,” he says. “This looks and feels like a true brick wall, but it’s actually made from reclaimed bricks that have been sliced down to create [about one-third-inch-thick] slips. You just stick them to the wall like tiles, using adhesive.”
Brick tiles: Reclaimed Brick-Tile
Brick tiles: Reclaimed Brick-Tile
To satisfy building regulations, Walker had to install a fire door across the opening to the stairs and landing. He commissioned oak sliding doors, which measure about 8 feet long. They had to be brought up the narrow stairs in two pieces and joined on-site.
“We also had to provide samples to building control to prove that, once we’d put them together, they would meet the regulations and act as a fire screen,” Walker says. “We inserted flame-retardant material into the join between the door blanks.”
“We also had to provide samples to building control to prove that, once we’d put them together, they would meet the regulations and act as a fire screen,” Walker says. “We inserted flame-retardant material into the join between the door blanks.”
The apartment features a Lutron lighting system, and much of the lighting is recessed into the ceilings.
Walker added filament pendants over the table, though, to create a nice retro feature. “You create them by choosing the flex, fitting and bulb that you like,” he says.
Pendant lights: Urban Cottage Industries
Walker added filament pendants over the table, though, to create a nice retro feature. “You create them by choosing the flex, fitting and bulb that you like,” he says.
Pendant lights: Urban Cottage Industries
In the living room, LED strip lights give the shelves a warm glow, while a wood-burning fireplace provides warmth and a focal point.
Sofas: Dwell
Sofas: Dwell
A feature staircase runs from the apartment’s entrance up to the loft. “I was inspired by chats with architects to fit oak paneling in the stairwell, right up from the front door,” Walker says.
The walls were not perfectly straight, so a batten framework was constructed to which the panels were then fixed. Walker added an LED strip into the recessed handrail to create a warm seam of light that leads you upward.
The walls were not perfectly straight, so a batten framework was constructed to which the panels were then fixed. Walker added an LED strip into the recessed handrail to create a warm seam of light that leads you upward.
Walker designed the unusual glass-and-steel staircase. Having received quotes from stair companies of $37,000 to $43,000 to create and install it, he decided to do it himself.
“I got a steel fabricator to put in the framework for about [$2,500], and a structural engineer designed the stairs for about [$600],” he says. “Then it’s triple-laminated glass for the treads and double-laminated for the balustrades, which cost around [$6,200].”
The whole design came in at about $9,300. “I had to do a fair bit of running around between the trades, and a lot of the measurements were my own, so there was some risk. But I saved money,” Walker says.
“I got a steel fabricator to put in the framework for about [$2,500], and a structural engineer designed the stairs for about [$600],” he says. “Then it’s triple-laminated glass for the treads and double-laminated for the balustrades, which cost around [$6,200].”
The whole design came in at about $9,300. “I had to do a fair bit of running around between the trades, and a lot of the measurements were my own, so there was some risk. But I saved money,” Walker says.
Light flows down to the entrance hall from a big skylight in the loft roof and through the glass stair treads.
Walker was already living in the apartment by the time permission to convert the attic was granted. “The cost of securely covering the roof while work took place was prohibitively expensive,” he says. “So instead, we just waited until we saw a dry week on the forecast and then ripped the roof off!
“The logistical complications of taking the roof off to build the dormer extension while living downstairs were huge,” Walker says. “We managed to do it in about three weeks, but I had to be really organized to pull that off.”
A team of builders worked on the extension, and a separate team of roofers constructed the new roof and fitted two skylights. “We did run into a couple of rainstorms during the three weeks of work, and the tarpaulin we were using to secure the roof was becoming less watertight the more we used it,” Walker says.
“I remember getting up on a couple of stormy nights and walking barefoot through all the sawdust and screws to reposition buckets, hoping none of the rain would come through to the bedroom below. It was a relief when the skylights went in and the whole roof was sealed!”
Wall lights: Urban Cottage Industries; bed and bedside tables: Habitat
“The logistical complications of taking the roof off to build the dormer extension while living downstairs were huge,” Walker says. “We managed to do it in about three weeks, but I had to be really organized to pull that off.”
A team of builders worked on the extension, and a separate team of roofers constructed the new roof and fitted two skylights. “We did run into a couple of rainstorms during the three weeks of work, and the tarpaulin we were using to secure the roof was becoming less watertight the more we used it,” Walker says.
“I remember getting up on a couple of stormy nights and walking barefoot through all the sawdust and screws to reposition buckets, hoping none of the rain would come through to the bedroom below. It was a relief when the skylights went in and the whole roof was sealed!”
Wall lights: Urban Cottage Industries; bed and bedside tables: Habitat
A built-in window seat has storage underneath. “It’s a great place to sit,” Walker says. “It looks east, and the sun blazes in through the window in the mornings.” The window can tilt or swing open.
Walker didn’t install doors on the closet space tucked into the eaves. “Once we’d put in the floor and the insulation in the ceiling, this all sandwiched-down on the head height. I’m 6 feet and would have been crouching to open a door.”
The lack of doors also increases the sense of space.
Walker didn’t install doors on the closet space tucked into the eaves. “Once we’d put in the floor and the insulation in the ceiling, this all sandwiched-down on the head height. I’m 6 feet and would have been crouching to open a door.”
The lack of doors also increases the sense of space.
Installed in the roof are two skylights, which had to be craned into position. There’s a fixed skylight over the stairs and another above the bed. “It’s cantilevered and remote-controlled, so you can open it in the summer and lie in bed staring up at the stars,” he says.
An interior window allows additional light from the stairwell skylight to flow into the bedroom.
An interior window allows additional light from the stairwell skylight to flow into the bedroom.
Another interior window draws light from the stairwell into the master bathroom. Walker chose large-format porcelain tiles with a concrete finish for the walls and floor in here.
“They are [about 32 by 32 inches] and work well in the space,” he says. “I put the toilet centrally against one, the basin against another, and the towel rail against one too. They lend a kind of logic to the layout.”
Plumbing fixtures: Duravit via QS Supplies; tiles: Tower Ceramics
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“They are [about 32 by 32 inches] and work well in the space,” he says. “I put the toilet centrally against one, the basin against another, and the towel rail against one too. They lend a kind of logic to the layout.”
Plumbing fixtures: Duravit via QS Supplies; tiles: Tower Ceramics
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Ewan Walker, co-founder of Made, a design-build firm
Location: Highbury district of London
Size: Three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Designers: Ewan Walker and the Made team
Walker bought this apartment in 2013. It had been rented out and was in a tired but habitable state. “I was really attracted to the three arched Victorian windows in the front, and wanted to make the most of the space there,” he says. “There was a small kitchen pushed into the far corner, so we put in a long steel beam on the internal wall of the living room and could then open out the space.”