Young Street Apartments
London, United Kingdom
21 Young Street is the newest address in Kensington, London’s finest Royal Borough. With a contribution by Meriel Scott, Precious McBane Ltd., MMM Architects planned and designed the interior of the building, housing 53 apartments and a number of communal spaces.
Luxurious living
“Buyers in this part of London are looking for luxurious living”, says MMM’s Matthew Ratsma. “So we set out to create a real English home feeling within the apartment block. The design of the communal spaces plays a large part in that. They are warm and inviting, full of objects, books and paintings and they set the pace before anyone enters an apartment.”
The design feels like a handmade suit rather than one off the rack.
Grey palette
MMM were given an open book for the materials and the colour palette, settling on Hakwood flooring quite early in the process. Ratsma: “The flooring is where we traditionally start, quite literally working from the bottom to the top. A slightly darker floor was important in this building, but a grey palette is rather difficult as it can move easily from warm to cold. We worked with Hakwood for six months, exploring different techniques and colours, until we got it just right.”
The accent of the floor plane is important to us, as you read that horizontal plane rather quickly.
Layer by layer
From there, MMM chose the eucalyptus accent joinery as a first step between the floor and the rest of the design, then introduced the silver plated nickel ironmongery. That way they built the design up layer by layer. “It’s choices like these that give the building an underlying character, and in this case I think they work particularly well. There are some really soft and nice details to the communal spaces that make you feel good even before you step in.”
| Products used | |
|---|---|
| Flooring | HV0786, Bespoke |
| Grades | Natural |
| Finish | Oil |
| Thickness | 15 mm (5/8") |
| Plank widths | 180 mm (7") |
