Category Archives: wonderful spaces.

house of stone and wood.

Undeniably rustic, this house exudes warmth and a lack of pretension. However, it is also contemporary, open plan and airy. The beauty lies in its simplicity – poured concrete floors, rough stone walls given refinement with bands of brickwork, large sections of ply lining the ceiling. I love the tactile quality of the materials, and also the honesty – materials are left in their natural state.

The detailing is kept simple too – a massive window frame is brought to rest at the wall and ceiling, without being cut in or forced into a recess. There are no skirtings, or mouldings, or other extraneous elements. There is an integrity to this approach, with every element and material given its due. The roof over-sails to form another room outside, with the minimal intervention of the glazed wall to keep the elements at bay.

The furniture is a wonderful mis-match of reclaimed and industrial pieces – free-standing floor lamps and industrial pendants, a metal desk and chair, a wood-topped dining table.

House in Lot-et-Garonne region, France, via French by Design.

More wonderful spaces, here

stairs to inhabit.

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The brief was to replace a patio with a timber deck for barbequing, entertaining, contemplating.

The design was conceived as two rooms, roughly four metres in depth, opening off the two external doors, with an interconnecting narrow boardwalk. The Balau timber boards were laid perpendicular to each other, to emphasise the notion of rooms. With a drop of just under a metre to the garden, four steps were required. These were positioned roughly one-third of the way along, to offset the otherwise symmetrical elevation. Then, taking up around two-thirds of the length, two very deep, very wide stairs were formed – stairs to inhabit. The stairs can be sat upon, played upon, inhabited…

This project was completed a month or so ago for a family home in Surrey. I have since spied this wonderful house in Tokyo, aptly named Coil House; the house is entirely comprised of flights of inhabitable stairs.

Defined by 44 steps of varying depths and widths, Coil is a spiral of continuously ascending spaces, designed for a family in Tokyo.

To maximize the tiny, oblong lot, three square wooden columns were planted along the plot’s central axis, each one wrapped with treads. While large, open landings act as rooms, level changes eliminate the need for partitions and doors with the winding of the stairs separating the spaces.

The three-story climb begins at the wedge-shaped foyer. Four steps descend to the bathroom, while 13 broad treads, ranging in depth and doubling as the library, ascend to a series of large landings, designated as living and sleeping areas. At the top of the house, the sequence culminates in a compact galley kitchen, and an elevated dining area.

A masterful use of a narrow space, entirely eliminating the need for corridors.

I love to inhabit stairs; for me they provide the perfect perch for talking on the phone. What about you – do you utilise your stairs for purposes other than climbing?

Images and more Coil House, here / Feature image, Prada store NY, via

a danish home.

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I don’t think anyone does a sublime white interior better than the Danes, and this one is exemplar. It is a turn-of-the-century apartment near Copenhagen; the white backdrop with pale wood floors and white wash of classic features is all calmness and serenity. It is minimal yet inviting. Warmth eminates all around, in texture and tone. Materials are kept natural, textiles neutral. All images The Guardian

I spy…

… design classics: Carl Hansen‘s 008 coffee table + Hans Wegner CH25 armchair; Eames DSR chair; Fritz Hansen Grand Prix chairs; Catifa chair by Arper; Tolomeo floor and desk lamp, Artemide. Bits + pieces, by nord

I could happily dwell here, could you ?

Photographs Heide Lerkenfeldt

a modern house.

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In a very lovely part of North London, not far from home, is this house. It is properly modern – built in the mid 1950s by the architects Howell and Amis. It is one of six built as a terrace, there is a shared orchard and its back garden is the wonderfully wild but utterly civilised Hampstead Heath.

The layout is over four storeys. Being a terrace it is narrow – a smidgen over 3.5 metres wide. But every level has full-width floor-to-ceiling glazing across the rear elevation, providing wonderful framed views of Hampstead Ponds and lots of natural light. The interior palette is simple, with white washed walls, wood and terracotta tiled floors, and an open tread timber stair forming a spine through the floors. I’ve already interior-decorated it in my mind.

And best of all it’s for sale! Now, about that price tag…

All images The Modern House