For Livingetc's first-ever House of the Year, London-based studio A New Day’s project in Highgate was a unanimous winner. On judging day, I was immediately drawn to the colors; Sarah Spiteri noticed how well zoned, and therefore how good for families it was; while Emma Breislin and Hugh Metcalf were both impressed by various details, such as the beaten metal edging of the desk in the entryway and the way the wasabi granite was painstakingly cut around the power outlets in the kitchen backsplash.
In short, not only is this house absolutely bursting with ideas (already making it the perfect Livingetc home), but it’s also an incredibly well-considered space made specifically so that its family could easily live the lives they wanted to lead.
"This project came about during a real shift in the lives of the owners," says studio founder Andrew Jonathan Griffiths. "The kids were starting secondary school, starting to be more independently sociable, bringing groups of friends back. So the parents wanted spaces they could all have to themselves, and others they could all come together in, and some where they could be semi-separated. There needed to be lots of pockets of space where people could go off and do their own things."
Here, he talks through the modern home in his own words.
Entryway
Desk designed by A New Day. Tub 45 wall light, Contain. Gropius CS1 chair by Noom. Walls in Leather III, Paint and Paper Library. Bespoke carpet, A New Day with Floor Story. Stool, Zara Home.
A three-storey Arts and Crafts house in Highgate, north London. The ground level has a bootroom, living room, open-plan kitchen and snug, dining area, and powder room. On the first floor there is a main suite with two kids’ bedrooms and bathrooms, and on the top floor is a guest bedroom and multi-functional 'house within a house’ that the owners use as workspace.
Andrew's design for the entryway is a strong start. This type of building typically comes with large foyers, with owners often stumped for what to do with them. And the area to the side of the front door would have been dead space — or a coat and shoe dumping ground — if Andrew hadn’t added a desk. "It’s where the owner perches for half an hour to do emails — the view out is lovely," he says of his built-in design that features a delicious hammered metal edge.
Meanwhile, the family didn't love the classic Arts and Crafts staircase, but it was part of the history of the building, and everyone felt it should be respected. So Andrew decided to enliven it with a truly beautiful custom ombre carpet.
Kitchen
Vintage bar stools, try Poliform for similar. Lariat pendant light, Apparatus. Walls in Slipper Satin, Farrow and Ball. Taps, Perrin and Rowe. Drawer handles, designed by A New Day. Plug sockets, Bocci. Wasabi granite worktop above cabinets, InOpera Group. Concrete worktop above island, Woody’s Concrete Company.
"The wasabi granite used for the backsplash has so much movement and complexity and drama but isn’t shouty," Andrew says. ‘It links well to the greenery of the garden outside." Installing it so that the cut-out holes for the power outlets sat perfectly was "difficult and time-consuming," but the effect is one in which every detail is elevated by the extra effort.
The green concrete tops of the island, a surprisingly soft and tactile choice, link to the garden views outside.
Dining/TV Area
In-Situ sofa, Muuto. G1 wall light, Guariche. Chisel lounge chair, Hay. Boho rug, Nordic Knots. Mag coffee table, The Conran Shop. Halten SH9 side table, &Tradition. Laddi table lamp, Roll and Hill. Sculpture on shelves, Alastair and Fleur Mackie. Ceramics on shelves, Sophie Cohen Ceramics.
The wood shelving is a very smart and functional piece of joinery between the kitchen and dining/TV area, cutting each room off, but not entirely. "It’s all very sociable and means kids can be together and only slightly supervised from the kitchen," Andrew says.
Not that the homeowners will always have teens to keep half an eye on. "We design with a long-term view so that piece of joinery needed to be softened so that it seemed more at one with the space," he says of his decision to go with rich walnut here, a material he felt would age better than oak.
Andrew says that shelves like this "live or die by what is on it. You want perfect vignettes rather than to over-fill, which if you do then you might as well have just had a wall."
Living Room
Viscontea ceiling light, Flos. Rock n Rest chair, Gimson and Slater. Fireplace tiled in Marlborough Terracotta Bijmat tiles, Ca’ Pietra. Group sofa, Philippe Malouin. Man Falling artwork, Robert Capa. Walls in Invisible Green by Little Greene, ceiling in Green Stone by Little Greene. Cast rug, Christopher Farr. Martel Wall Light, Entrelacs
"This was originally a dining room which we shaved a bit off to create the boot room," Andrew says of this formal living room.
"The fireplace wasn’t there, and so we wanted that focal point of the fireplace to give it a center, to show that this was an adult space." The TV is hidden in the big gloss cupboard to the other side of the fireplace, making it a space that encourages conversation rather than idle screen-staring.
Main Bedroom
Ingeborg sofa, Audo Copenhagen. Bed, Poliform. Walls in East End Clay. Wall light, Etsy. Ceiling light, Gong. Joinery, A New Day, made by Creativedge. Panels in Laredo Escapade Aride fabric, Elitis.
"I chose the colors to be warm and vibrant, a little bit sexy but not too grown up," Andrew says. "I wanted an element of playfulness."
In fact, the palette is just perfect. Warm, biscuit-y tones, some burgundies next to some plaster shades, rich woods and a sandy beige sofa — schemes don't come more contemporary and yet timeless. It's a wonderful blend of many of the colors we love right now, used judiciously and to their full advantage.
Dressing Room
Mirrors and Joinery, A New Day, made by Creativedge. Stool, Zara Home. Walls in Shadow White, Farrow & Ball.
More clever joinery, designed bespoke by A New Day, in the dressing room that adjoins the main bedroom. It is wrapped in terracotta, "because it's a flattering and heartening hue to be around," Andrew says.
And there is a nifty built-in vanity and a hanging mirror, which makes excellent use of otherwise dead space in front of the window.
Main Bathroom
Mirrors, Woud. Vanity, A New Day, made by Creativedge. Zellige 1016 wall tiles, Mosaic Factory. Walls in Shadow White, Farrow & Ball
Made from silver travertine, the countertop in the main bathroom is extra deep, a design choice Andrew made because the overall effect is one of the room feeling particularly luxe.
Guest Bathroom and Powder Room
London tap and shower fixtures, all from The Watermark Collection. Kromatic tiles, Claybrook Studio. Zellige 1037 tiles, Mosaic Factory. Onyx sink, sourced from Canada. Mirror, Zara Home. Taps, The Watermark Collection. Alba V2 Wall Lamp, Contain. Birch Patchwork floor tiles, Otto Tiles.
Pairing these two spaces together — even though the powder room on the right is on the ground floor and the guest bathroom is upstairs — because their colors are so complementary. They're an example of how Andrew has created connections in the design scheme around the home, with colors reappearing in ways that link everything together.
They're also both examples of his incredible knack for getting the most from a tight floor plan. "The curves of the shower niche mimic the curves of the bath, and it was a way of sectioning a shower off from the tub without having to have a cubicle," Andrew says.
Meanwhile, the powder room is a real pop against the more neutral entryway leading up to it. "We wanted this space to feel fun and warm and be a moment in itself," Andrew says. "The green onyx sink is really unusual, shipped over from Canada."
Andrew’s thought process for this house is what we wanted to commend in awarding it our House of the Year. A commitment to durability, to making each space work hard and harmoniously, and for everything — no matter how functional — to be nothing but truly beautiful. The worthiest winner we could think of.
See all our Style Awards winners here.