Waiting and Worrying

I'm starting to get nervous now. G.C., who is going to be leading the charge on all the construction work, told us last month that he would do the demolition work in September. But now we're halfway through September and there's no sign of him! André keeps trying to reach to him to get some exact dates from him, but he's suddenly become impossible to reach...

I guess I should explain. G.C. is a contractor/construction manager who André knows in NYC. When he heard that we were thinking of buying this flat, he volunteered to help us with the work. I was more than a little sceptical, but I guess the idea is that he's keen to do some more work in Europe. I was amazed that he actually came over to London - at his own expense - back in June, before we completed the purchase, to give the place a look over and give us a professional opinion about how much actual work would be required.

Anyway, I guess I'll hold off giving my two months' notice on the current rental flat until we have more of an idea what's going on with this guy...

The Design: Lofting a Victorian

 

When we first saw the flat, we had to really look past its dire condition (and the piles of rubbish) to see the potential. What really attracted my attention was idea of opening up the flat to the attic space - this also provided an opportunity to add a second floor, known in the UK as a loft conversion.

I knew straight away that I wanted to get rid of the ceiling and expose the wood structure that supports the roof - looking past the layers of dust, there was so much character, especially in the age and patina of the wood. Exposing the underside of the roof would also create a double-height, cathedral-style ceiling.

The Attic

The existing layout was awful - it would also have to go. So much wasted space! If the idea is to open up to the attic, then the plan would have to be opened up, and simplified. The living room space could be enlarged by re-locating the kitchen closer to the bathroom. This would effectively put all the “closed” room together as efficiently as possible into a single volume tucked under the 2nd level...you could almost say we’re lofting a Victorian flat...

 

Final Design - View from Dining Table

The trick to this became making everything fit into as small a area as comfortably possible so as to maximize the open space. As is often the case, it all came down to the bathroom and kitchen...and in this case it was all about the kitchen. After many sketches and schemes, I realized that the kitchen layout would be determined by the clever arrangement of the appliances...and that was about it--there was no extra space! The compact layout is hidden by losing two of the kitchen walls, opening the kitchen to the living area and adding a bar counter--which would help hide the “stuff” of a kitchen, as well as provide additional counter and entertaining space. Once this was worked out, the resulting dimensions set the wall of the living area, and the bathroom layout fell into place. 

Final Design - View from Living area

Final Design - View of Kitchen

The journey begins...

After such a long struggle to buy the flat, we are actually the proud owners of an uninhabitable wreck!



Mould on the ceiling. Huge cracks in the walls.



Fist-sized holes in the roof—it was kind of a novelty (obviously not in a good way!), being able to see the sky through the attic.

If you could get past all of that, though, the place had what you might call great “bones”…