In 2000, when No 37 Belgrave Square was purchased, the house was derelict with a ramshackle rear garden. “You could have put your arm through a crack in the wall,” says the current owner, who engaged Boyd Cody Architects to oversee the complete renovation and extension to the rear.
It was one of the firm’s first projects and involved “adding a complementary modern space that doesn’t dominate the house,” says Dermot Boyd. “We chose a minimal palette of materials, while maintaining the period proportions of the rooms, and added in aspects of modern life.”
The minimal palette consisted of three main materials used throughout. Iroko was used in doors, floors and panelling while granite, echoing the stone used when the house was built in the 1870s, was used as flooring on the lower ground floor, and extends outside, creating a seamless divide between the interior and exterior. Mosaic tiles in earthy tones were used in bathrooms and the kitchen, in contrast to cool hues of stainless steel.
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Boyd Cody added a single-storey extension to the rear, which opens up from the kitchen via a large glass sliding screen onto a modern sunken terrace which is itself in bold contrast to the Victorian-style garden. A bedroom with views to the front garden, a utility with wine cellar hidden behind flush panelling, and a bathroom complete the downstairs.
There are many influences of Luis Barragán, the Mexican modernist architect, most notably the bold contrasting colours of shocking pink and vibrant orange that sit side by side in the contemporary kitchen. All the other rooms – with the exception of a child’s bedroom – are painted white and act as a canvas for the owner’s collection of contemporary art.
The two reception rooms at ground floor level have intricate lotus and palmette cornicing and original marble fireplaces. There are no frills, just clean lines, natural flooring and minimalist furniture, which enhance the period features.
Upstairs are two further bedrooms, a family bathroom and a library framed by two L-shaped book cases, which could also function as an overnight guest bedroom.
Number 37 is a house of striking contrasts. Its design is proof that the traditional and the contemporary can happily co-exist – perfectly combining historic Victorian characteristics with distinctive modernity.
The current owners are starting a new project and have placed their 240sq m (2,583sq ft) home on the market to be auctioned by Sherry FitzGerald on May 28th with an AMV of €1.25m.
