negroni room
Brixton, London
Type | Residential renovation
Client | Private
Contractor | Do Build Ltd.
Status | Completed August 2024
Photographer | Manuel Vásquez
The ‘Negroni Room’ is a project in Brixton that looks like a fun garden room, but is actually a disguise to resolve a problem of levels through a full refurbishment of a Regency home in Brixton, connecting the lower level with the garden because there was previously no access.
The Negroni Room now frames the view as you enter the main house. Basically, it calls you to walk inside, sit down and relax.
The Regency house we refurbished had a typical semi-basement that was once a service area with a low ceiling, small high-level windows and no access to the garden. We converted this space into a self-contained studio flat and used traditional Japanese screening techniques to separate the spaces and allow natural light between them.
A Japanese ‘shoji’ screen was built by the talented furniture maker Adam Astle using a joint that is something between a dado joint and housing joint made of solid Ash timber. It has a sliding panel dividing the bedroom facing garden, from the functional areas of this studio flat facing the street. The Washington paper softens the light and makes it consistent. It’s a great material for a sliding screen.
When we were approached by the clients, they wanted to have easy and comfortable access to the garden where they both enjoy working every day. Because of the proportions of the house, the ground floor was much higher, and the semi-basement was much lower. So, a hard landscaping strategy was a starting point for our design.
This is the third project now where we install the Foxydry Pro electric drying rack with warm ventilation. It tucks away into the ceiling and frees up spaces in the utility area. In the Negroni Room it looked really beautiful against the Mylands Coral orange utility cupboard.
