Collection by Alex Vuocolo
Crazy Renovation of the Day: A Victorian Church (Filled with Stained Glass!) Remade as a Tiny Apartment
A former church is converted into a minimal yet dramatic home in London.
Built into the apse of a Victorian church, this West London flat blends the old with the new. The church was first converted into apartments in the 1980s, but that renovation didn't take advantage of the original church details. For architect Sam Tisdall, the semicircular apse presented an opportunity to highlight elements of the church, such as its stain glass windows and brickwork, while also creating something wholly new. The challenge was finding a practical and aesthetic balance between the alterations and the existing building. “It’s a really small project but it’s really quite quirky and interesting,” Tisdall says.
"There are obviously no flat walls to put pictures or furniture against. There's quite a lot of useless space, in a way, under the eaves where you can’t really stand up.” Tisdall says. The dressers and balustrades approximate the flat edges of a regular room, while also taking advantage of the low space beneath the eaves.
The stairwell, like the dressers and balustrades, is made from radiata knotless pine supplied by SMI Panels and finished with a white osmo oil to prevent any yellowing as they age. The client originally wanted a darker finish to match the rustic feel of the church, but Tisdall decided on a lighter approach to serve as a counterpoint to the brick and dark woods. “I thought it was really important to bring lightness to the building,” he says.