ABOVE LEFT, THE TOP
TWO FLOORS ARE GIVEN
OVER TO OFFICE SPACE
ABOVE RIGHT, ‘EXPLODED’
DYSONS IN THE GROUND
FLOOR BOARDROOM
LEFT, MANY ORIGINAL
ELEMENTS HAD TO BE
COMPLETELY REBUILT,
INCLUDING THE MAIN
STAIRCASE, COMPLETE WITH
TURNED-OAK BALUSTERSaccents of striking Dyson-esque colouring throughout.
At the rear of the house, where Martin consolidated the
centuries-old jumble of additions with a new garden
room above a sunken courtyard garden and a wall clad
with wood and copper slats, Deirdre brought the
coppery colour into the room’s new rug.
The rear garden also contains a lush green wall
and an array of cast concrete, lifesize replicas of
various Dyson products, which are dotted around like
eccentric sculptures (these are developed by the team
behind Dyson’s retail stores). The ground loor
boardroom features ‘exploded’ Dysons, a set of three
products reduced to their constituent parts and hung
on wires, Damián Ortega-style. Even more subtle
details abound, like the cyclone motifs set into the
ireplaces. The original Georgian plasterwork
was cast and recreated with the help of specialists
Locker & Riley and Hayles & Howe, and includes a
subtle piece of modern decoration, a vacuum cleaner
component incorporated into the mouldings.
Jake Dyson’s lighting is also used throughout.
Dyson junior developed a unique system of ininitely
adjustable lighting on slender right-angled supports.
Both the Dyson ‘CSYS’ task light and ‘Cu-Beam’
suspended lights use LED technology and special
heat-dispersing pipes concealed within the frame.
This emphasis on simplicity and elegance, but also the
concealment and streamlining of technical function,
deines all Dyson engineering. ‘We would make [design]
sugestions to the Dysons, who generally would either
agree or sugest alternatives that would largely it
into one of three categories: family designed, modernist
or tried and tested,’ says Martin. ‘We remained on
the same page for nearly all of the project. I tried to
ensure everything felt as if it was engineered.’
Attention to detail is everywhere and it’s safe to
assume that meticulousness is a family trait. In the hall
is the Dyson crest, designed by Sir James to incorporate
the interests and expertise of this polymathic family,which takes in industrial design, music, the arts and
fashion (covered by Emily Dyson Paley’s Notting Hill
boutique Couverture & The Garbstore). There’s also
the James Dyson Foundation (administered elsewhere),
which directly addresses Sir James’ regular clarion call
for more emphasis on engineering and innovation in
education. ‘We share everything,’ Deirdre admits, and
this elegantly repurposed building is deined by quiet
but eicient innovation, complete with the bold lashes
of brilliance that made their fortune. ∂
dyson.co.uk; amarchitects.co.ukOfficepaper*
176 ∑