NEVER TOO SMALL: Vibrant Reimagined Underground Victorian Terrace, London 54sqm/581sqft

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Situated on the ground floor of a terraced Victorian home, this once dark and run-down maze of walls is now a bright, open space with transformative sub-dividing elements and a playful combination of natural materials and colours. Designed by the talented duo at Studiomama, stand-out elements include the two pink sleeping cubes with integrated storage and the bespoke Douglas fir-clad study with the option for both sitting and standing workstations. The compact home features a full-sized living and dining area achieved by way of a custom-designed L-shaped sofa and diamond-shaped dining table that maximise both floor and seating space. The striking green and wood kitchen echoes the warmth of the studio with its curved wood cabinetry and unique custom-made splashback.

#smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign

Episode no. 167
Project Name: Mia’s Apartment London
Designer: https://www.studiomama.com/

Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator, Director & Cinematographer: Colin Chee
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Editor: Sebastian Tibbs
Music: Anyway-Instrumental Version by Kyle Cox, Envision by WOOLFSON & Ocean Hued by Wav Two
Artlist.io

We’ve experimented a lot with small space living and, that sense of wonder when you come in this idea of how you can really change space with very, very simple elements, suddenly it feels very transformed and different. I’m Nina Tolstrup, part of Studio Mama And I’m Jack Mama. The other half of Studio Mama.

Our idea was to explore how to create a transformative space where you can subdivide that with sliding door elements that could create different zones within the space If you’re a fan of this Never Too Small episode our new book is perfect for you. Discover our top 30 small footprint homes

Available at the Never Too Small store. So the flat is located in Islington, it’s the north part London. It’s a very central location, very beautiful streets lined with big trees, you know, which gives that kind of nearly a a suburbia feel or not being that central in London as you actually are.

This is a lower ground floor flat in a terraced Victorian house. I went to see the, the flat and it was really a maze of walls and really run down So the challenge was basically how do we make this feel light and open?

So it’s a lot to try and squeeze in to a fairly small space and then also feel that it’s actually spacious. When I first entered the flat there was one living room that had a narrow kitchen and then there was a master bedroom that took basically the best view to the garden.

The new floor plan that we created was very much about opening up the space so we could connect the front of the flat to the back of the flat, because that’s where we have the, the window. Converted what was two bedrooms that was in the front of the flat

Towards the garden to being tucked at the entrance and then we moved the kitchen and on the other side. So the kitchen obviously has a total different location. We’ve got a separate entrance where you come in and you walk down the stairs and a little forecourt.

So in that way you’re kind of feeling that it’s really your own little space here. So when you enter, the first thing you have is a bench to take your shoes on and off. This looks storage space for your overcoats and shoes We did a lot of work with that,

You know how much space do we need for it to feel generous? And then the first thing when you turn in is this really big bookshelf, is feels really generous when you enter the space. The bookshelf was built around an old fireplace

And then we use the opportunity to put in a big mirror. We work a lot with mirrors in small spaces, as that you can also give this very sculptural feel to the space. The mirror actually helps to bounce the light and also helps

Amplify the sense of space upon entering the main area when you come in. We thought about the layout of the study a lot so that it connects to the sofa space. The desk is facing outwards to the garden so you feel connected to the outside. We also incorporated a standing/working possibility.

That you can switch easily between sitting and standing. The study space needed storage all built in Douglas fir. That gives that kind of a whole different sensibility and warmth when you sit in that space. When you get through to the garden side of the flat

We wanted to create both living room space and a dining space, and there’s not that many square meters to get all that squeezed in. So the sofa is designed to visually take up as little space as possible but obviously maximize the seating.

So one of the things we did was to make it as floating as possible. So that cantilever in the sofa you gained that extra visual sense of space. We designed the coffee table because again, the space is not so big, The armrest also serves as a side table as well

So you can leave your book or cup of tea. The ceiling in the study and the living area is lower than the rest of the flat. We actually used it as a feature because there’s something really quite cozy you get the feel that the space opens up in front of you

And then you see the garden and the light. You have this garden that comes with the lower ground floor flat here, which I think is a massive plus for the flat. this is a beautiful, mature garden where we have big trees that you would see

The trees also makes the space really green when you look through. So we had this challenge with the kitchen, that we had this big structural column that we had to work around. we created these two areas around the column, we wanted to create this kind of a graphic feel to the kitchen.

So the kitchen comprise fridge, freezer, dishwasher, oven. We had to find a way to have drawers for knives and forks and all of that, and that we put in, in the curved end So, that was the only space left,

So we managed to kind of squeeze it in and make it a feature for the kitchen. The light for the kitchen is integrated LED lights under the cabinet that is motion sensors. The material that we have used for the worktop and the splashback is a material made with off cut wood.

So it was important that we also had a material that work both for the worktop and the splashback, that kind of a continuous line always gives more openness. We really like to have some open shelving but it’s also makes access very easy and give that openness.

The dining table was within a narrow confine. So we came up with this idea of this more diamond shaped table, that takes up much less footprint so that you could easily have the chairs tucked in and be able to pass through the other side of it.

It had a recess so that we could integrate a bench into it. We found these Swiss designed dining chairs by Bruno Rea, This shape is nice because you’re facing each other which I think is quite nice and more convivial. For the first sleeping pod, on the front of the pod

We had to integrate some stairs for accessing the pod. The first pod has sliding doors. And it also gives a sense of privacy that’s quite cozy when you’re in there. And on the top of the pod we integrated a glass box that gives light from the front of the flat.

There’s also some shelving that can be used for books and etc On the front of the pod there’s pullout storage. One thing that I was quite conscious about is having two sleeping pods up against each other. So separated by a big sliding door, which gives that kind of a movement in the space

Just gives us a sense of you have a a space that can be divided up. It creates privacy between the two parts. So the second pod was at a lower level, there’s a sliding door to close it off for privacy. On the other side of the pod, a sliding door element.

So there’s an opportunity to play with openness of the space, What’s not visible to people is that the top part is in two halves. So you have storage from the outside, but also from the inside of the pod as We managed to integrate some storage under the bed.

We have quite vivid colours inside the wardrobes quite bright yellow, the other wardrobe is quite bright blue. We like to have colors, but we also… it’s that balance of that the colors really have to fit in and not take over the space.

We wanted to keep the sightline of the front and the back of the space very open So the bathroom is quite narrow – kind of glass above that has this nice light intake. We’ve used this idea of framing things very much in this project

We used micro-cement, and one can customize the colours. The bathroom is in a light blue We have the same material on the floor and the walls. Which also makes the space go bigger because it’s less boundary, visually. I think there’s something that’s very nice about this space that we’ve created here.

And it’s difficult to put into words, but it’s the feel of it when you walk in. Maybe it’s to do with the combination of natural materials and colors. that we’ve used and the way that we’ve worked with the layout and and so on.

The thing that we often work with smaller spaces is that ‘Aha!’ when you come from quite a confined entrance and you get into a space that opens up, Thanks for watching. And if you’re an architect or designer with a project we could feature please share it with us at NeverTooSmall.com/submissions