Emil Eve Architects creates "sense of calm" in pale pink loft extension

Everything is pale pink in this monochromatic loft extension designed by Emil Eve Architects for a house in east London.

The London-based studio has used colour blocking to unite the various elements of the Narford Road loft, including surfaces, furniture and joinery.

The loft extension creates a new bedroom for the house

Studio co-founder Emma Perkin said the aim was to create a "sense of calm" in the space, which will be used as a bedroom.

The clients, a couple with two young children, wanted a room that would feel like a sanctuary, allowing them to leave the chaos of family life downstairs.

"Their brief to us was to create a space that was serene and grown-up, intended purely for the adults," Perkin told Dezeen.

The entire room is painted in a pale pink shade

As the house is located within a conservation area, the loft extension had to be designed with minimal visual impact. The architecture studio did this by designing a mansard roof, which replaces the butterfly roof that previously topped the house.

With its projecting windows, the mansard form helps to maximise the feeling of space and light within the room.

The design includes built-in closets and shelves

Bespoke joinery also helps to make optimal use of space.

Emil Eve Architects designed built-in wardrobes and a window seat, which create a full-height dressing area on one side of the room. The other side of the room is framed by slatted panelling, which integrates storage and a bedhead.

Bolder patterns were chosen for the en-suite bathroom

The pale pink – a Little Greene paint shade called China Clay Mid – colours almost everything in the loft, with only a few exceptions.

The wooden flooring is left natural, while handles are finished in polished brass.

"We explored several material palettes but settled quickly on the idea of colour blocking, to create a sense of calm and draw all the spaces together," said Perkin.

"The clay-pink colour was selected as it transformed beautifully in different light and weather conditions, holding the shadows created by the slatted joinery and the forms of the space."

Black and white terrazzo tiles cover the floor

Some other colours and textures are introduced within the en-suite bathroom, which is tucked neatly into the corner of the space.

Graphic black and white terrazzo floor tiles feature alongside pale-toned plaster walls. The room also boasts a large skylight, located above the walk-in shower.

A new mansard roof was installed to create the room

Perkin co-directs Emil Eve Architects with partner Ross Perkin. Other recent projects by the studio include a converted warehouse apartment in London's Clerkenwell and a farmhouse extension in Wiltshire.

Photography is byMariell Lind Hansen.

Project credits

Architect: Emil Eve Architects
Project architect: Emma Perkin
Contractor: Tuga Contractors Ltd
Building control: Quadrant Building Control
Ensuite specialist plasterer: MUD Finishes
Terrazzo tiles: Mosaic Factory
Ash flooring: Woodflooring Engineered Ltd
Paint: Little Greene
Sanitaryware: Lusso Stone
Lights: Árturo Alvarez, Flos, Tom Dixon

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Emil Eve Architects brings warmth and colour to London warehouse apartment

The owners of a converted warehouse apartment in London's Clerkenwell have swapped open-plan living for a more functional room layout, following a redesign by Emil Eve Architects.

The project, called St John Street, sees the previously stark and industrial space transformed into a practical two-bedroom home for clients Mike and Jen.

The original brick walls and concrete columns are left exposed in the main living space

Along with the new layout, Emil Eve introduced oak joinery, glazed tiles and terrazzo flooring to bring more warmth and colour into the renovated living spaces.

The aim was to make the former warehouse space feel more comfortable, but without losing the industrial character that gives the space its identity.

"When our clients acquired the apartment it was a large empty shell, with exposed brickwork walls and columns, and a board-marked concrete ceiling slab," said Emma Perkin, who founded Emil Eve with partner Ross Perkin.

Furniture helps to divide the room into three zones

"Although an industrial palette can feel quite raw and harsh, the materials here had such a beautiful range of tones and textures that we knew we wanted to retain them," she told Dezeen.

"Our approach was to contrast these rougher historic surfaces with contemporary interventions in a carefully considered palette of materials to complement the existing tones and create a warm and inviting home."

The entrance lobby doubles as a library with in-built oak shelving

The biggest task of the project was planning a new layout that would suit the client's lifestyle and daily habits, but which also work with the existing windows and structural columns.

Emil Eve's approach was to organise the main living spaces at one end of the floor plan and the bedrooms at the other, so that both could benefit from the natural light. Ancillary functions, such as bathrooms, were then slotted into the centre, behind a spacious library-style entrance lobby.

Pocket doors allow spaces to feel more bright and open

"The space is long and thin, with windows at each end, so we needed to consider how to maximise natural light in the areas where our clients would spend most of their time," said Ross Perkin.

"We developed the idea for a library space, which would form the entrance to the apartment, which linked all the other rooms and enabled views from one end of the apartment to the other through large sliding pocket doors," he explained.

The new joinery creates plenty of storage space

Almost all of the new partition walls integrate built-in shelving and cupboards, giving them a feeling of solidity while also creating much-needed storage space.

As a result, these elements have a high-quality finish level, allowing them to contrast with the raw surfaces of the original outer walls.

"We wanted to retain as much of the historic fabric and the sense of openness as possible," said Ross.

"So these internal spaces are conceived as independent elements, each lined with bespoke timber joinery and ceramic tiling to create a distinctive atmosphere and identity."

The new layout allows clients Mike and Jen to comfortably work from home

The living area is now the largest space in the home.

Two concrete columns, as well as large furniture pieces, help to divide the space into three different zones – a lounge space, a dining area that doubles as a workspace, and a kitchen and breakfast bar. This makes it easier for multiple activities to be going on at once.

The kitchen features an island with an integrated teriyaki hotplate

The kitchen is the most distinctive element in this room, combining lime-washed birch plywood units, dark green tiles, yellow pendant lights and an island with an integrated teriyaki hotplate.

A similar green tile features in the main bathroom – the idea was to reference the Victorian glazed tiles that are common in the area.

The main bedroom features a slatted bedhead and window seat

A more serene approach was adopted for the bedrooms, where the brick walls have been finished with a natural clay plaster.

As well as a walk-in-wardrobe and en-suite, the main bedroom also features a custom-made slatted bedhead and window seat, with interacted bedside shelving.

The other bedroom is a guest room, so most of the time it functions as a gym.

The brick walls are finished in clay plaster, for a calmer feel

Parquet flooring features in both the bedrooms and living spaces, while the rest of the apartment features terrazzo flooring, which helps to create subtle transitions between different areas.

Emil Eve worked with Harbour Joinery Workshop to design and build all of the new joinery elements, as well as some of the furniture pieces.

It is an approach the architects are familiar with, having designed in-built furniture for previous projects, including their own former home, Gibson Gardens.

Green tiles in the bathroom reference the area's Victorian history

The standout elements here include the floor-to-ceiling shelves and closets in the library, the neatly organised walk-in-wardrobe in the main bedroom, and the custom low sideboard in the living room.

"We love joinery and always design our own pieces to suit each project," said Emma. "Here, we conceived a family of joinery elements for the different spaces, but with common characteristics."

"We used oak for the library space, which is a really warm timber and a traditional material for libraries, to give the atmosphere of a book-lined sanctuary at the heart of the home. The dressing room, kitchen, pantry and ensuite echo the language, but in lighter plywood to delineate these spaces."

Photography is by Mariell Lind Hansen.

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