Clive Place

Cartref

Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

This project reimagines a substantial Victorian terrace house within the Penarth Conservation Area. Purchased in 2021, the owners sought to restore the building’s character while creating a calm and coherent home.

The house is arranged over four floors, yet the original layout left the ground floor entirely detached from the garden. The solution was to remove a section of floor at the rear and relocate the kitchen to the basement, creating a generous double-height room. This gesture brings a sense of drama to the heart of the home: descending the iroko-lined stair becomes a moment of quiet theatre, while long views from the ground-floor hallway offer glimpses down into the space and out towards the garden.

New openings are carefully placed to bring daylight into the house at measured moments, gently filtering light and introducing a sense of calm. The natural material palette warm iroko joinery, lime plaster, honed concrete sits comfortably alongside the retained stone walls and red brick paving. Light and texture, central to the clients’ brief, are handled with restraint and clarity.

A bespoke oversized iroko pivot door opens onto a sunken terrace, framing a fig tree just beyond. When opened, the terrace and garden become part of the room, extending the living space outward.

Materials used in the main living areas are echoed throughout the house. Subtle combinations of timber, soft colours and natural textures create quiet spaces for resting, reading and sleeping.

The wider project includes the transformation of the existing bathrooms, an additional bathroom at third-floor level, refurbished bedrooms, hallways and living room, and a new library. A series of smaller interventions throughout ensure that the character of this fine example of mid-Victorian domestic architecture is both preserved and reimagined for modern living.

All new metalwork, joinery, doors and windows are designed in collaboration with a local carpenter and metalworker.

Status: Completed

Photography: Rory Gaylor