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Tigg Coll Architects took a new approach to a straightforward town house renovation and expansion in London. The home’s rear extension has its own personality, with with pivoting glass doors, sharp red support beams, and a wood-burning fireplace. The overhanging concrete plinth acts as a hearth or, as Tigg imagines it, a sort of contemporary inglenook. Wood piles neatly between the beam and wall. The fireplace, a Stovax Riva 2, is flanked by a Lampe Gras wall lamp; firewood is cleverly stored in the narrow space between the fireplace and the red support beam, creating a fun moment of practical texture in the room.

Pocket Change“We wanted the main spaces of the house to flow into each other while still being able to isolate areas for privacy,” says Bull, who designed floor-to-ceiling pocket doors that slide into the wall, closing off the bedroom wing, the meditation room, and the entryway. “We spec’d Häfele Hawa Junior sliding door hardware. At about $225 per door it’s a bit more expensive than some other brands, but it is very smooth and quiet.” hafele.com

Architect José Roberto Paredes calls the sliding walls utilitarian artwork. “The doors open to a surprise space, like a secret pathway,” he says.

More custom millwork features asymmetrical shelving and closed storage spaces with sliding panels on HAFELE sliding tracks. A 10-inch matching pocket door provides privacy when desired without interrupting the space.

The kitchen is located in a bespoke timber joinery unit that divides the “living shed.” The timber has been stained black to contrast with the surrounding timber cladding, and brass counters and backsplashes echo the use of brass details throughout the interior. “Brass was a very special material—used sparingly—that has come to be a hallmark of the project,” says architect Ben Shields.

A young Vancouver family asked Falken Reynolds Interiors to convert their waterfront vacation home on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast into their primary residence. To facilitate livability for the foursome, an enlarged kitchen, complete with a large white island with wood hardware, was a major part of the renovation.

The spacious open floor plan maintains a utilitarian sense of function. The floors are made from colored concrete.

An office space complete with custom built-ins.

The studio’s second floor serves as a library. The sunken bathtub offers interrupted sightlines across the space and out into the backyard. The tub, like the library’s floor, is made of concrete.

On approach to the guesthouse, the family keeps an edible garden in concrete planters by the property’s landscape designer, Cielo Sichi of Landfour.

In the living room and kitchen, soft-but-tough Expanko cork flooring provides comfort and stands up to dings and scuffs. While the kitchen was designed primarily with Surendra and a caregiver’s needs in mind, it also accommodates the five-foot-radius of a wheelchair.

A skylight above the shower illuminates the master bathroom.

The house was fully assembled in just 32 working days. “It was a wonderful, emotional thing to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of our clients,” describes Meelena.