This Georgian Grade ll listed terrace house in Pimlico was once the home to Mozart where he composed his first symphony aged eight years old in 1764.  It was also home to the illustrious novelist, poet and garden designer Vita Sackville-West. A four-storey house with large garden the client wanted to retain as much as possible of the original house and explore some modern concepts and features to give the house an updated and contemporary feel.

 

We devised a plan with several linking elements: to breathe new life into the original house; connect a modern kitchen room to the garden and its water feature and design a garden house complete with underground swimming pool and bathroom. 

 

The challenges included designing and engineering a glass-beamed garden floor surface which allowed light to flood into the subterranean pool. Another interesting feature was the kitchen/dining area which was divided by a retractable glass wall. When it was used by the family on a day-to-day basis it was open and when there were more formal dinner parties the glass wall could be closed to separate the two areas.