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Passageway to an Old Stable is the Site of a Newly Liveable Space

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Sometimes a small change can have a very big effect.

A narrow, cramped and dark three-story building was on this tiny site.

The owners, a young couple, hoped to be able to brighten it.

The original three storied house had occupied a passageway from the busy High Street in Clapham, London, to a stables behind the larger building next door.

Cramped bedrooms all faced the noisy street, and at ground level the entrance was also the dining room, while access to the garden was effectively blocked by an uninviting extension.

To make it bright, the architects, London-based alma-nac, topped a new arrangement with a long sloping roof dotted with skylights to bring sunlight into each storey.

This new exterior roof and wall was treated as one unit and covered with grey slate roofing tiles.

They extended the house at the rear, opening up the ground floor and bringing light into the entire space. A study was added in addition to the third bedroom.

They opened up the full width of the building to the garden with folding doors, replacing the tiny dilapidated door to the garden.

This has the effect of making the garden a part of the sensed living space – at least on London’s occasional day with clement weather.

This addition allows space for a new ground floor dining area, and a broad passage kitchen participates in the generous “view-space” making it seem much larger than it is.

The skylights made the most difference, bringing lavish dollops of light into all of the space created.

As well as light, more storage was also key and is even tucked into the headboard of the master bedroom.

Additional storage was added in the darker heart of the space, here creating a dressing room for the master bedroom.

But as a reminder of the original cramped space between two buildings, the brick flank walls were exposed at the top of the stairwell.

It’s a miracle that such a cramped passage is now a liveable space.