Client
Private
Year
2023
Services
HomesThe Concept
Situated within the Adelaide park Conservation area, this handsome villa was in need of modernisation and some careful attention to the existing building fabric. The client’s brief was to provide a comfortable home for their family within the beautiful period building, with the modern comforts of contemporary living.
Originally built in 1892, it was designed by Francis E Ward, with a later extension in 1901 by Vincent Craig, and while many of the unusual original period features of the house remained intact, it required a sensitive approach to re-ordering of spaces, and careful attention to ensuring the period details remain for many years to come.
The plan of the house had evolved over time to a warren of rooms off rooms, and required careful reconfiguration, to provide a coherent suite of spaces for family life. A new large kitchen is centred in the heart of the home, and a modest single room extension to the rear, with brick piers and a sedum roof, creates a visual and physical connection between the living spaces and the southwest facing garden.
creating a visual and physical connection between living spaces and garden
The former billiards room which had previously been sub-divided was reinstated to a single space providing generous relaxing spaces for the family. A garage was converted to a gym and connected to the main house by a discreet glazed link. A non-original dormer was replaced at the rear with a new dormer that almost invisibly abuts the gable of the main house with a glazed eaves window, creating a snug relaxing space within the master bedroom. A bath on the top floor is raised on a platform to provide bathtime views over the Belfast hills.