A Reinvented Terrace House in London Is Chock-Full of Clever Storage
When the clients, a young family, first locked eyes on the outdated, 1930s terrace house that would become their home, they saw past its awkward layout and focused on its potential. To help bring it into fruition, the family turned to London–based Gruff Architects for a gut renovation, ripping out the ground floor and replacing the layout with an open plan suitable for modern-day living.
Once a humdrum 1930s terrace house, Bearstead Rise has been beautifully reimagined by London–based firm Gruff Architects into a vibrant, 1,500-square-foot abode.
During the top-down overhaul, the team created a floor-to-ceiling, modular, and adjustable birch-ply storage wall—perfect for displaying books, photos, and memorabilia.
With a built-in window seat, the area is now a hub for entertainment and relaxation.
The upper levels also received fresh makeovers, with the first floor being converted into a space for the clients’ children, and the second becoming an airy master suite.
On the upper levels, the bedrooms feature bespoke storage and seating, using with the same language and material as the living area below.
The team purposively opted for neutral materials—such as cork floor tiles, engineered timber floorboards, and birch-ply joinery—to form the home's fabric. Zinc yellow door fronts in the kitchen, an anthracite gray staircase, concrete tiles, and pale wood floors further emphasize the key elements, while effortlessly linking the various levels and rooms.
A glimpse into the bathroom connected to the bedroom.
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Built for the couple's twins, the children's bedrooms are a mirror of one another. While each child has their own personalized space, a "secret" door within the adjoining room gives the twins the choice to unify the floor into a giant play area.
A closer look at one of the adjoining bedrooms.
Where existing structure needed to remain, the architects deliberately expressed the union of old-to-new through a series of shadow gaps and junctions.
A bright green, patterned wallpaper envelops the bathroom on the lower level.
Expansive glazed pocket and bifold doors open the ground level to a newly landscaped garden area with terrace seating.
Also featuring large bifold doors, the home office located in the back of the property has been revamped to read as a mirror of the main house.
The main house, garden, and home office are all linked by the use of repeated materials and neutral aesthetics.
Related Reading: A Renovated Apartment in Sweden Boasts Sunny Yellow Storage Walls
Project Credits:
Architect: Gruff Architects / @gruffarchitects
Builder & General Contractor: Lewel Construction (Lewis Donoghue)
Structural Engineer: MH Consulting LTD (Mark Health)
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