The Dulwich House
The Dulwich House is a case study in adapting existing structures and minimising the amount of new construction required to meet the clients' brief and budget.
We utilised the existing structure and topography to create a bespoke panelled kitchen and dining space, with bifold windows opening over the garden. The topography of the garden lent itself to creating a terraced garden, with staggered raised planters framing a sunken courtyard, offering the owners privacy in an overlooked garden.
Formerly the kitchen was located in the rear outrigger which was dark and lacked a connection to the garden. The existing ground floor WC was tacked onto the rear of the property in a single storey brick construction, which we opened up and built upon to create a benched dining space below a generous skylight. The floor is a wide format oiled oak board, and the walls and ceilings are lined with painted timber panels, a modest nod to the opulent timber panelled dining rooms of English Manor Houses.
The painted timber panels extend on to the ceiling and skylights of the side return which houses the kitchen, a naturally lit space with a luxurious granite worktop. Carefully selected light fittings pick up on the spots of black in the granite worktop and splashback.
'Whittaker Parsons were superb from the start to the end of the project. Brilliant imaginative design ideas coupled with great communication and project management skills - we could not have asked for more.
They really maximized what we could do within our budget. Their design makes fantastic use of the space and light and their attention to detail on the project management side meant that the project came in on budget and the quality of the finish is really high. Their skill and hard work made what can be a really stressful process enjoyable and exciting for us.
They took the time to listen to what we wanted and produced and executed a design that totally exceeded our expectations and what we thought was possible within our budget. We are thrilled with the results.'
T.Otter & E.Clarke, 2020
Photo credit Max Creasy