We carried out the design for all the common areas and the main entrance hall of the Durrels House, an apartment block of 86 flats from the 1970′ located in West Kensington. In parallel with the design aspects, the project also entailed the retro fitting of each single independent heating system by introducing a communal system which is going to be more efficent in terms of energy and carbon consumption and therefore more sustainable. As a result, the gas has been completely removed from the building. Flair Studio worked on the interior architecture and the coordination of the pool of consultants.

The design narrative aimed at amplifying the shape of the building bolck, which is composed by two slightly offset rectangles. We played on the building shape to develop a pattern that we used one floor, by adopting bespoke, thinner grey tiles punctuated with lighter, larger tiles. The lighting scheme echoes the flooring in a more diluted yet graphical way while the bespoke screen, the lift wall and the reception desk have a thinner pattern of repeated solid wood profiles.

In addition to the above mentioned benefits of the central & communal heating system, we also introduced other sustainability measures such as foreseeing time sensors to reduce electricity consumption for all the communal lighting and heating systems and we sourced the most of the  products locally. Also, asbestos which was present in different spots in the building had to be removed before commencing the works.

The Durrels House project was a great opportunity to transform an existing and slightly worn out housing block from the 1970′ se within a prominent location in West London into a more efficent retrofit building complemented by a contemporary design in all of its common areas which is very much complimentary with the building itself and ultimately is aimed to add value to the building.