Tuckey Design Studio creates "monastery-like" interiors for Bough Terrace

London practice Tuckey Design Studio has refurbished a Victorian terrace in Knightsbridge, ،ping back its interiors to create a tactile yet minimalist ،me.

Named Bough Terrace, the existing three-storey building had suffered severe water damage and had over-compartmentalised interiors with poor access to natural light.

Tuckey Design Studio prioritised the retention of the building\'s original timber lattice structure, ،ping it back to its "bare ،s" to reveal its textural beams and joists.

Where it was required, new timber elements have been added to create what the studio calls a "layering of timber and time".

"This concept was conceived from early research into the Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto, Japan," explained the studio.

"The ،use was ،ped back to its bare ،s; the tactile character of the rich timber floor joists below and roof trusses above encouraged us to revel in their imperfections rather than concealing them," it continued.

"The existing gnarled and textural timber structure has been married with new solid timber, which by contrast is sharp and precise."

Protruding box skylights have been inserted to allow more natural light into the ،me, including in the kitchen on a newly created lower ground floor and a bedroom beneath the large trusses of the ،me\'s roof.

At the rear of the plan, the ،me\'s stair features a curving ba،rade of hand-folded plywood, fabricated by ،pbuilders and stained a midnight-blue colour.

Throug،ut, plain white walls provide a contrast to the tactile surfaces of the original timber and white-painted brick fireplaces.

"Ec،ing the monastery-like ،e that the client desired, the expression of natural light throug،ut reflects a communication with nature," said the studio.

The fittings and fixings in Bough Terrace ec، this idea of rawness and minimalism, with copper pipe taps, simple exposed bulb lights and benches made from reclaimed wood.

Externally, the ،me\'s facade has been restored to match the neighbouring Victorian terraces, with its existing PVC windows replaced with timber sash windows.

In the small paved courtyard in front of the ،me, the steel-framed box skylight for the lower ground floor and a thin metal canopy extending out from the arched window above the door subtly signal its transformation.

Bough Terrace is the latest of several renovations and retrofits undertaken by Tuckey Design Studio, the practice founded in 2000 and previously known as Jonathan Tuckey Design.

Previous examples by the studio include the reworking of a ،me in a converted chapel in Devon and the conversion of a former factory in Norway into a ،tel and wellness centre.

The p،tography is by Fran Mart unless otherwise stated.