Mansard loft conversion with large skylight in wimbledon

The owners of this substantial Victorian property in Wimbledon SW19 wanted to do something special with their loft area. They wanted to have a master suite with an en suite and dressing area so the parents could enjoy their own self-contained space upstairs away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the house. The clients enlisted expert Wimbledon loft company nuspace to help them realize their vision. Here, we talk to the lead (award-winning RIBA) architect, Iñaki Leite. ‘We tried to create something very clean, with clever circulation that flowed from the front of the property to the rear,’ he says. Iñaki had many loft conversion ideas himself, and listened to those of the client. What resulted was an amalgamation between the client and architect’s imaginations.

There is a Juliet balcony overlooking the garden in Wimbledon, a velux window into the eaves and an enormous 2m2 skylight over the bed, so natural light is never an issue. A motorised black out blind above the bed ensures sleep is never disturbed. The velux window brings light into the study alcove, and eaves storage ensures that no space is wasted. ‘Another important thing we did was increase the depth of the storage area,’ says Iñaki, ‘we made it 830mm deep to emphasize the lines of the project.’The loft is open plan, with just a door at the entrance. The bedroom transitions smoothly into the dressing room. ‘We created different spaces intended for different uses,’ says award-winning loft conversion architect Iñaki, ‘the dressing room is separated from the bedroom by the wardrobes, and the study by the alcove,’ he explains. You can notice that the velux window lines up perfectly with the skylight, and the walkway and it lines up with the window in the bathroom too, so you can see the full length of the property with one view, which makes it feel more spacious. ‘All the elements in the project were emphasising that one line,’ says Iñaki. The en suite bathroom is beautifully spacious, with a large walk-in shower and freestanding bath. The grey stone on the floor is continued on the shower walls to give the feeling of a wet room. Keeping that continuity, along with the glass shower screen, makes the space feel particularly large, a trick that loft conversion designers often like. ‘The idea was to keep everything very simple in the bathroom,’ says Iñaki, ‘to achieve a clean and functional design that is necessary for a relaxing space.’The loft in Wimbledon had previously been a dusty storage space. Iñaki and his team of loft conversion architects were able to transform it into a very light, very clean open plan master suite with numerous zones for different tasks. The loft conversion in SW19 took just over 8 weeks once planning approval in Wimbledon had been granted, and the clients gained a spacious loft with clean lines and plenty of natural light.