Birchwood

The house, located in a small enclave off Templewood Avenue as part of the Firecrest Development, had been unaltered since being built in the 1980s. One of the primary architectural moves made was the relocation of the main stair, opening up a triple height space over the entrance, and introducing a new curving open tread stair, made from black timber, glass and a beautifully crafted black leather handrail. This stair acts as a feature and focus to the whole house, and helps define the dining and living spaces on the mainly open plan ground floor.

The original volumes were rationalised and enhanced wherever possible; on the first floor there are three bedrooms all taking advantage of the original tall pitching volumes. The master suite is a single space which uses free standing wardrobes to define the sleeping and bathing areas.

The hillside was excavated to form a basement area for gym and utility areas.