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Project Name: Belsize Park

Location: North West London

Date Completed: March 2016

Interior Designer: Roselind Wilson Design

Architect: Roselind Wilson Design

The Kitchen of this impressive stucco fronted property in Belsize Park would have formed the reception room when originally built. As a result, the space benefits from impressively high ceilings of 3.8m and beautiful ornate cornicing and a ceiling rose, together with a fireplace as the central feature. The client wished to adapt this stately room into a large kitchen and dining area to suit their lifestyle yet still allow this space to feel like a room and not specifically like a kitchen. In addition, they wanted to incorporate their love of modern materials like metal, timber and marble into the space whilst ensuring that it functioned efficiently. The natural process for Roselind Wilson Design was to allow for a banquette seating area in the beautiful bay window. This would maximise the seating space and allow for a stunning oval marble table set against a strong black and white striped fabric for the bespoke bench.

The remainder of the space was designed with a large island to accommodate the hobs and downdraft extractors. A breakfast bar with bronze metal legs is fitted perpendicular to the island allowing for comfortable socialising when cooking. The island unit is manufactured in state-of-the-art laminate to ensure a slick contemporary look that is extremely durable. The units were chosen in a stained charcoal / graphite oak to marry with the bronze and laminate and offset with the Carrara marble. The sink is located in a bespoke unit behind the island and represents more of a freestanding furniture piece than fitted kitchen joinery. This look is intentional to adhere to the client’s brief of ensuring the Kitchen had a distinct room-like feel. The Gaggenau appliances and wine fridge are located in the tall run of units on the wall opposite the bay window. Again, the sweeping dimensions of the units add to the over-scaled proportions of the room and provide a sense of presence.

The island itself faces the fireplace, the surround of which was designed and made bespoke for this room using honed Nero Marquina marble. This entire wall was painted in Chalky Interior matt paint in Graphite Grey by Marston & Langinger to create a matte charcoal / black effect to marry with the look and feel. The rest of the rooms are painted in an off white/grey for contrast.
Lighting was essential in the space and the requirement was to have levels of light and allow for all circuits to be dimmable. The oversized ceiling rose required an equally imposing light and the Array pendant by CTO Lighting was the obvious choice. With gold lining to emit a warm glow of light over the island and breakfast bar, it stands as a strong central feature to the entire room. Ceiling spot lights with a 31-degree beam angle and 2700 Kelvin light colour made a practical choice for the functional lighting in the space, balanced with the accent of a quirky wall light by Buster & Punch to the left of the bay area.

A key aspect of the project was the careful balance between materials with the intricate detailing yet still achieving a clean, sophisticated look. Several textures were used in the space to create depth and contrast yet with the detailing of the over-scaled ceiling rose and cornicing it was imperative not to let these features conflict with one another. The success of the space is attributed to the scale and proportion of the room and furniture within. The high ceilings of nearly 4m allowed for the furniture to fill and own the space without feeling overbearing. The island was long enough to contain two hobs, a large pendant draped from the huge ceiling rose and the bespoke black marble fire surround was set against a massive black matt painted wall. Bold and dramatic yet authentically understated. The look and feel of the kitchen has been designed in synergy with that of the whole apartment. A great deal of emphasis has been placed on ensuring that the finishes and textures flow organically throughout. There are subtle links to the metals used in the kitchen as well as the bathroom. Blackened steel doors to the Master dressing room link to the Kitchen door and shower doors. These small details assist in integrating the design.