SECRETS OF SUCCESS
T
he home of Rachel Ray-Choudhuri
and Jason Bonning – a three-storey
Victorian terrace in east London –
while once ideal for them, was becoming a
squeeze as their three children grew up.
The somewhat convoluted layout had
worked in previous years, but now couldn’t
provide the privacy their teenage children
needed – their son and daughter sharing a
room was far from ideal.
“We had room, but not rooms,” Rachel
says. “The design had worked well when
the children were little but was not helpful
as they started needing their own space.”
They considered moving to find
something better suited to their changing
needs as a family, and began shopping for
houses. At this point, they realised their
house had more space than they had
thought; it was simply poorly configured.
“The houses we looked at weren’t bigger,
just differently laid out,” explains Rachel.
“We realised we had plenty of space.”
Being reluctant to move from the area,
the houses they found that offered more
space were five storey Georgian
properties, which were “way above our
budget,” says Rachel.
The couple approached Martin
Gruenanger at Space Group Architects
and set him the task of finding a solution.
Rachel and Jason’s house is one of six that
the practice have completed on the same
road, which lies within Tower Hamlets’
Driffield Road conservation area. Although
this fact did cause a few minor hiccups,
issues were kept to a minimum thanks to
the architects’ local experience. They also
took care of the planning process, which,
says Rachel, “meant we had much less
stress. They were amazing.”STRIKING A BALANCE
When it came to designing the work to be
done, Rachel and Jason had a few key
requirements. The most important
element was squeezing in an additional
bedroom – taking the house from three
bedrooms to four. They also wanted an
open plan kitchen/living area, a bathroom
on every floor, and somewhere to dry
washing so it wasn’t “draped around
everything,” Rachel says. Their final
requirement was more aesthetic – an
exposed ‘London brick’ interior wall.
Although they had a wish list, Rachel
and Jason were very much guided by
Martin on the design aspects. “I was most
concerned about the budget and getting
the bedrooms,” explains Rachel. “It was
Martin who had the vision and made sure
it ended up looking stunning. We couldn’t
have imagined it on our own.” As well as
their list of features, it was important to
Jason and Rachel that the house struck theWhen a London couple decided to extend their
Victorian terrace house to make family life easier,
an ingenious solution by their architect unlocked
ample space and light, as Roseanne Field reports
Extended
family
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