MARINA
Renovation, St Leonards-on-Sea
2022
Renovation, St Leonards-on-Sea
2022
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Renovation of a second floor apartment in a 19th Century building overlooking the English Channel in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.
Originally a grand, five storey, Victorian house, the property was converted into a hotel in the 1930s, and then unsympathetically divided into apartments in the 1960s resulting in the removal and covering-over of period details - plaster mouldings and timber panelling - and the breaking up of generous rooms with plasterboard partitions to form kitchenettes and bathrooms.
Work has been undertaken to strip out plasterboard partitions and restore the original proportions of the principal rooms at the front and rear, exposing decorative cornicing where it remains, and open up the interior to flood the apartment with natural light. Modern linings covering the original window panelling, have been removed and joinery throughout, including architraves and skirtings, has been taken back to the original timber. Likewise, the floor has been stripped of hardboard, repaired and refinished. Where sections of joinery and plasterwork have been damaged or removed, no attempt has been made to replace with modern replicas, instead only minor repairs have been made to ensure the stability of the elements which have then been left as relics. In some cases where this was not possible, contemporary profiles have been spliced in so that the new and the original are clearly defined and the evolution of the building remains legible. The direct views of the English Channel are enhanced by new bare timber sash windows. The shower room and toilet are distinguished from the original fabric by the use of bold colours, shadow gaps top and bottom, and curved, sculptural forms that wrap around the spine wall at the centre of the plan. The intention is for these to feel more like elements sitting within the exiting floor plan rather than further subdivision of space, a sense that is reinforced by the raised floor and dropped ceiling which primarily provide a service void, but also a hierarchy to the spaces. Joinery throughout is in birch ply finished in matt hard wax oil giving a very slight sheen. It is designed to be unobtrusive and to preserve the original proportions of the rooms. It is therefore mostly low-level, with the wardrobe positioned over the bedhead and concealed within the depth of a former chimney. The kitchen is finished with a melamine-faced worktop but likewise designed as a piece of furniture housing both kitchen cabinets and a large open bookshelf, terminating in a curved plywood panel. To enable this, a small area at the centre of the plan has been carved out to form utility room meaning that appliances can be removed from the open plan kitchen and living room, and tall units are not required. A bespoke dining table, also in bent plywood, has been designed around the curved shower partition to provide a generous amount of seating and maximise space within the room, this is paired with a plywood stool which has also been designed specifically for this project. Architect: West St Studio Contractors: Jackson Blench Carpentry, NG Electrical, Oakhill Plumbing and Heating 
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