Chelsea Townhouse

Design narrative

Our early thinking centred on the stair as the emotional and architectural core of the house. Rather than a purely functional element, it becomes a slow, curving passage between the more public lower floors and the quiet of the upper rooms.

The challenge

The study examines how a deep townhouse plan could gain a stronger connection between floors while bringing borrowed daylight into its centre.

Approach & response

The concept proposes a re-formed plaster stair drawing borrowed light down through a top-lit void, with recessed niches for objects and pause. Consultants would be appointed to develop structural and heritage considerations.