No.8
Kate Clare has brought a playful touch to this formerly traditional Edwardian terrace, filling it with vibrancy and joy
HOME TRUTHS
THE PROPERTY Edwardian terraced house
ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/living area, cloakroom, two bedrooms, three bathrooms, library room, two studies, gym room
LOCATION East London
The emotive pull of Kate Clare and Gavin Sumner’s new home kicked in before the pair had even got inside. ‘I loved the Edwardian arch over the front door,’ explains Kate, the founder of Loud Architecture & Interior Design, a creative studio based in east London. ‘We’d seen a few other potential projects, but that’s what really sold it for me.’ Such was the beauty of this elegant curve of brickwork that she decided to use it as a motif throughout the property as she and Gavin made plans to renovate.
Having shared Gavin’s flat in east London, the couple had started the hunt for a shared home from where they would start a family. ‘I always knew I wanted to buy somewhere we could renovate from top to bottom and, as a creative designer and architect, it was important that I’d be able to put my own stamp on it,’ Kate says.
While the architectural pull was strong, Kate had identified further merits that would contribute scope to her plans. ‘It wasn’t in a conservation area which was important to me so that I could add cladding, but the plastic lean-to conservatory extension was also a big factor in our decision because, having been built more than five years ago, it meant we would have a strong case for permission to build in its footprint. There was so much scope at the back,’ she explains.
