BEAUTY PURE

Having lived in trendy Dalston for seven years, Hannah and Sam Franklin-Bort wanted more greenery and space for the next stage of their lives. Their search led to a five-bedroom Victorian terrace near Peckham Rye Park in East Dulwich. ‘I wanted to put my own stamp on whatever we bought, so). ‘The fact that it hadn’t been touched was a blessing for us.’ RDA Architects were drafted in to create an open-plan home that could double up as a location house. ‘Luckily our architect James Henderson was glad to work with a couple who didn’t want the typical cookie cutter terrace conversion,’ says Hannah. ‘With nothing charming or original left we felt able to strip everything out and start again.’ Work started six months later to extend at the rear and side. Internal walls were knocked out and floor-to-ceiling storage was built along the length of the ground floor. The poky galley kitchen - on a lower level with a step down - was also problematic. ‘We could have dug down and created a higher ceiling in the kitchen, but I really wanted it on one level with the sitting room,’ says Hannah. Large metal-framed doors and a five-metre-long glass roof flood the room with light. ‘I picked the biggest piece of glass possible without needing a crane,’ she adds.