Conversion of an Industrial Unit to Create Two New Dwellings

Kentish Town, London, 2023

Transforming a former milk float depot into two patio houses, this project in Kentish Town near Hampstead Heath demonstrates an innovative approach to converting industrial heritage. Bound by surrounding terraces and residential gardens, the design navigates a challenging site to create new dwellings that expose and celebrate the original structure while integrating sustainable interventions and rich interiors.

Originally built as a milk float depot, the building has two storage wings constructed in thick masonry walls with deep aerated concrete roofs. Between these, a taller gabled metal framed roof sat behind a large access shutter.

Stripped back, with industrial waste and toxic materials removed, the original structure is now exposed and celebrated. External spaces are hollowed out of the thick masonry and concrete structure, and a new first floor is added within the central gable. The existing shell is retained and insulated with bio-based materials to upgrade its thermal performance. New walls are finished in a lime render, creating a softer and more coherent scheme that mediates between the new and old. Solar panels above the pitched roof generate electricity. 

The plan is orientated around the patio areas. Smaller, more secluded spaces are positioned below the new first floor, with intimate bedrooms to the rear of the plan. Circuitous routes around the dwellings link these rooms and the larger living areas. New stairs are carved into the centre of the plan, leading to light-filled, open studios at first floor. Integrated joinery offers a domestic scale to the building and ensures the dwellings are efficiently used. These interventions are positioned in transitional spaces. Deep thresholds to windows and doors mediate between areas, creating transitions that would otherwise not be possible due to the limited footprint.

The alterations to the exterior are pragmatic. The existing steel framed window is adapted, new openings are only added where essential and a new roof provides height. The front façade remains largely unchanged and subtly conceals the rich interiors within, creating privacy and anonymity for an otherwise exposed plot.

Structural Engineer: Ling Engineering

Landscape: Sabina Tomalik

Photography: Grant Donaldson