Grand Designs: Waterloo, The Violin Factory | 4Homes

Date Published:: 11/06/2008

Louise and Milko wanted to build the home of a lifetime so that's what they set out to do.

Milko's job as a well-paid City banker meant they could think big, so Louise set up her own architectural practice and they bought a disused violin factory in the heart of London's Waterloo. The crumbling building was hemmed in on all sides and had no views, but Louise had a vision of a spectacular loft-style home that would combine stunning design with utter luxury

The Build

The factory was hidden behind terraces, with access through a pair of rotten garage doors. As it was surrounded by buildings, light was a challenge: Louise planned to bring it in from above by glazing the pitched roof.

Bedroom, Waterloo: The Violin Factory, Grand Designs

Working with Ian Rogers, one of her practice's architects, she produced an opulent design with full height space on one side of the building and two upper floors on the other. The main space was divided into living area, private cinema, kitchen and dining room. The first floor had two guest bedrooms and a study opening off a walkway, while the second floor housed the master bedroom, with en suite sauna and bathroom, plus a gym. A roof garden gave a Mary Poppins-style chimney-pot view of the city.

Rising Cost

It was always going to be expensive - Louise and Milko had estimated that the basic build alone would cost £600,000, before fittings. And that didn't include the rent of the Harley Street apartment they were living in for the duration. Costs soon rose. It was discovered that the factory was on marshland, so 48 piles had to be pounded into the ground to provide foundations.

Then the neighbours refused access to extend the party wall, and the whole project stalled for seven months. Once building restarted, the wall was made and the old bricks sandblasted, the roof-light timbers were installed and the upper floors built. Winter came before the stairwell could be glazed, so a temporary wooden box was built on the roof and sealed.

High Tech, High Spec

The fittings began to arrive: under-floor heating, rain-sensitive windows, four showers, six toilets, computer-regulated humidity controls, a security system, a steam room, audiovisual equipment for the cinema, a 100-lamp lighting system, multimedia systems and a dumb waiter. To complement the high-tech, high-spec materials of the rest of the house, a wooden spiral staircase and study panelling were being crafted by hand in a Norfolk barn.

Fingers Crossed

Meanwhile, the neighbours were unhappy again, objecting to the pink Fletton bricks Louise had used to extend the party wall. While planning officers considered the complaint, a discouraged Milko stopped visiting the site and Louise crossed her fingers and pressed on. She set a three-week deadline and called in an army of glaziers, roofers, plasterers, plumbers and decorators.

Two-and-a-half years after finding the site, the build was finished. It offered the ultimate in style and comfort, and Milko and Louise loved it - but there was a snag. The council ruled against them on the party wall, and ordered them to dismantle and rebuild it. Milko and Louise have appealed. They are now waiting to hear if they have to turn their amazing home back into a building site.

The Detail

Slim, rib-like timbers break up the light from the roof-panes and create patterns of light and shade. Metal glazing bars in the windows add to the effect, as do fine metal lamps, suspended from walls and ceilings.
Rough, sandblasted brick meets crisp, pure white ceilings and dividing walls. Concealed lighting adds warmth and subtle colour - gold in the kitchen, green in a guest bathroom.
Clear glass sides and floor make the walkway appear to float above the main space.
Milko's library strikes an astonishing contrast with the glass and steel outside. Panelled in walnut, it is an enclosed space, rich with the grain of wood. Books line the walls and their colourful spines are complemented by the leather-topped desk and chair, and the glow of the gas-controlled fire.
The slatted treads of the spiral staircase are of varying widths and make beautiful fanlike shapes. Veneered in walnut, they, too, provide a contrast to the industrial materials.
The main space is open plan, with furniture kept simple. A 14-seat dining table stands in the middle, below the walkway. Beyond it, the living area has a red sofa by a fire, with the private cinema tucked round the corner.
The kitchen has state-of-the-art steel appliances, including a colossal cooker island that incorporates work surfaces and gadgets. Wood flooring and cupboards soften the industrial feel, and floor-to-ceiling wine racks, with diamond-shaped wooden compartments, gleam in a thermostatically cabinet.
Bedrooms are large and minimally furnished. The master bedroom has no curtains or blinds, and a skylight above the bed lets in the dawn. It is divided from the bathroom by a free-standing, walnut-veneered wall, which supports two wide, white hand basins on its other side.
The gym has a glass roof - retractable, for exercising under the stars.