An Internal reconfiguration of a main door tenement flat in a conservation area.

The clients owned a ground floor flat (part of a subdivided Georgian villa in Pollokshields) which had its kitchen located in a single storey projection into the garden to the rear of the property. It had nowhere to sit, felt disconnected from the rest of the flat, and was surprisingly dark. The dining room which was a well proportioned space with a classic high ceiling and ornate cornicing – was little more than a thoroughfare to the kitchen, and the convoluted route to the hall via the lobby exacerbated this further.

Loader Monteith proposed that the kitchen was pulled toward the centre of the property into the former dining room, and a direct (glazed) connection made to the hall, so that the kitchen became the centre of the home around which family life revolved. This change to access meant that a larder could be formed in the old entrance lobby.

The ceiling within the existing kitchen was removed to expose the roof ties, and a new roof light introduced. Window sills were dropped and a new frameless set of windows were formed to improve connection to the garden outside and to make a bright ‘day’ room. Adjacent to the back door a utility ‘box’ was proposed to house washing machines, boiler, coats, boots and all the clutter associated with family life. This created an open but natural divide between the day room and the kitchen.

The Clients had strong ideas about what they wanted to achieve and were keen to use warm tactile materials but also had a limited budget. Loader Monteith proposed the use of modest materials which also provide texture such as lacquered painted MDF and softwood, a concrete kitchen worktop, reclaimed beech flooring, and birch veneered ply.