Tucked within the fine-grained heritage fabric of Paddington, this sandstone cottage has been reimagined as a calm, enduring home that balances history with clarity of contemporary living. Once fragile and near collapse, the terrace was stripped back to its essential structure and sensitively rebuilt — retaining its character while introducing a new sense of light, openness, and material integrity.

The design celebrates the tactile richness of the original masonry, pairing it with a restrained palette of marble, brass, and natural lime render. A linear kitchen anchors the interior, its honed surfaces and soft reflections contrasting the rough stone wall behind. Large steel-framed glass doors dissolve the boundary between inside and out, drawing daylight deep into the narrow plan and framing views to the private courtyard.

Every detail was considered for longevity — not as decoration but as craft. Proportion, junctions, and texture carry the project’s quiet sophistication. The column-less steel bi-folds at the northern edge create a sense of effortless openness, while subtle insertions of joinery and lighting enhance rather than dominate the existing fabric.

This is a home designed for graceful ageing — one that acknowledges its 19th-century origins yet feels entirely at ease in the present. The project exemplifies HA + TRWDP’s approach to adaptive reuse: respecting what is found, refining what is added, and elevating the everyday experience of domestic life through restraint, precision, and enduring materiality.