Gun Place

Recent Project
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Gun Place

Gun Place Refurbishment

This spacious two bedroom flat was in need of an uplift and modernisation. The flat is in a warehouse conversion, but you didn’t get that feel inside – it was a standard plasterboard finish which wasn’t too interesting or in-keeping with the style of the building. The old layout included a corridor, which all the rooms led off. This would of been a building regulation requirement so as to allow a 30min fire escape route from the bedrooms. It meant the kitchen was closed in, the second bedroom was quite small and the family bathroom was an odd triangle shape. There was also a coat cupboard divided from the boiler cupboard. The ceilings were artex and the flooring was laminate.

There were solid concrete floors and ceilings and supporting pillars and lintels, but no internal structural walls which allowed us quite a bit of flexibility – and we could expose the previously covered up beams and posts.

We removed the corridor, and knocked the coat cupboard and boiler cupboard into one, making the living space bigger, and allowing us to make the second bedroom and family bathroom bigger too. To solve the fire escape problem, we created a route through a small lobby into the family bathroom, and through the boiler/utility cupboard to a vestibule by the front door.

So now, after the initial vestibule/porch, you enter into a bright and sprawling space rather than a dark corridor.  The second bedroom now can hold a double bed and wardrobe comfortably, and the family bathroom has a bath and doesn’t feel cramped.

The exposed beams were previously covered with plasterboard for fire retardancy, but we painted them with a fire retardant paint, which meant the space was opened out further. The ceilings were re-plastered for a flat finish, and we made a feature wall down the right hand side of the living space with old style brick slips.

We moved the living room lighting to the walls rather than the ceiling, to scatter light up and down the walls, which gives a very cozy feel. We fitted engineered wooden flooring, painted the woodwork white, and the walls in Farrow and Ball – Corthforth White. The beams were painted to match the dark kitchen and bathroom tiles, which alongside the exposed brick and dark flooring – gives a tasteful industrial feel.

  • Rent moved from 460pw to 615pw.
  • Total project cost approx £80K
  • Meaning a 10% return on investment
  • Property value increase of approx £100K-150K
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