Trends Home App Issues Volume 33 No 6 | Page 10

Previous pages and these pages: Basements are often dark, neglected and out of touch with the rest of the home. However, the opposite is the result in this case where the entire six-level home has been gutted and reinvented by Andy Martin Architecture. On the basement level, home to the kitchen, living and dining spaces, the quest for light and connectivity with the floor above led the architects to the dramatic design move of introducing a ceiling in pavement lights. The glass ceiling throws light patterns across the interior and optimises light play on the kitchen surfaces. search | save | share at This basement-level kitchen forms part of a dramatic whole-house transformation by Andy Martin Architecture. Martin says the comprehensive renovation was driven by the owner’s brief to create a sense of lightness and openness through the home. “First, we stripped out all the existing elements of the five-storey home – leaving a six-level internal volume,” he says. “From here, we re-imagined the spaces to create a new interior that maximises transparency, connection, texture and light and shadow. “To resolve the problem of a dark and unwelcoming basement level so common in terrace houses, we embedded glass pavement lights into the ground floor – the ceiling of the basement. This allowed light and glimpses of activity to connect the first two levels of the home.” To achieve a relaxed but crisp interior, a restrained palette of industrial materials – raw concrete and steel – is combined with refined glass, wood and plasterwork. “The owner wanted a clean and simple kitchen that would sit within the greater space much like furniture,” says Martin.