HIMACS for Artillery Mansions apartment in London

FORMstudio has reconfigured and refurbished a residential London apartment using HIMACS in fresh Alpine White.

Taking on the challenge of reconfiguring and refurbishing the apartment for its private client owner, Project Architect and Associate Mike Neale chose HIMACS in Alpine White for a central ‘floating’ block that conceals an existing structural column and houses a home office workstation. Articulated with a concealed LED lighting strip around its top edge, the block incorporates a desk and shelves in HIMACS natural acrylic stone, turning what was once a dark, uninspired area into a light, bright, durable workspace with a fresh, modern feel. ‘The clients wanted a desk that was durable and clean; one that would fit in perfectly with the crisp, white, modern aesthetic of the apartment,’ says Mike. ‘The desk is a high usage area and white painted shelves are very prone to marks. They really needed an easy-clean, hardwearing product and HIMACS was the perfect choice. It doesn’t stain and can put up with a lot of use, what with books and computers being moved around. We often use HIMACS for plain white applications, as it’s a fantastic material to work and live with.’

Designing the workstation ‘block’ also allowed for a spacious kitchen to be incorporated into the open-plan living space to one side; with a walkway to the front door on the other. Two full-height concealed fire doors complete the enclosure of a protected escape route from both bedrooms and the living space in the event of a fire. There’s also the flexibility to separate the work area from the living space or to temporarily increase the separation of the open-plan living/kitchen area from the bedrooms when required. The bathrooms and storage are both located within the deepest internal area of the floor plan and are finished in grey glass mosaic to enhance the ‘cave-like’ sense of having been carved out of the carefully detailed white finishes and white-oiled wide plank Douglas fir flooring that bring the rest of the apartment together.

The complete re-imagining of the layout and interior demonstrates how a fresh approach can make much better use of the available floor space in a typical developer flat by incorporating space that was previously wasted in the internal corridor. The result is a more enjoyable, flexible, naturally lit open-plan arrangement that is much better suited to its owner’s needs and lifestyle.