An Old London Victorian Gets a Greenhouse-Inspired Dining Room

Can you reinvent a historic home while staying true to its original character? This question was at the heart of a recent project led by London firm [Y/N] Studio as they approached the renovation of a split-level Victorian in Hackney.

The scope of the project involved improving light and flow on the ground floor of a family’s 1860s home, and creating a more unified relationship between the house and its secluded garden. "From the outset we were challenged to work with the character of the existing house and to create spaces which are timeless but flexible enough to suit a modern lifestyle," says Alex Smith, founding director of [Y/N].

Smith knew that applying current trends in home extensions, like creating a boxy add-on or whitewashed open floor plan, would not serve the historical character of the house. Instead, Smith, his team, and the homeowners, one of whom is a building conservationist, iterated on design concepts at length "so that ideas could be considered fully."