London architect Simon Astridge has renovated the disused basement of a kitchen showroom in Putney, adding textured supplies and a spiral-shaped wine vault with a glass trapdoor (+ film).
Briefed with generating a wine-tasting encounter for the London-based mostly company’s largely private clientele, Astridge took inspiration from the typical underground wine cellars in previous French farmhouses to produce his “wine cave” concept.
“The design and style inspiration for the wine cave was from our personal experiences in these spots,” Astridge advised Dezeen. “Gordon’s Wine Bar in Embankment, London and normal French farmhouse underground wine cellars had been the principal inspiration for light, texture and atmosphere.”
Commencing from scratch, the team refurbished the entire basement level of Kitchen Architecture – adding new underpinning, insulation and waterproofing, before cladding the walls in textured black concrete.
“The material on all the walls is a textured concrete panel,” stated Astridge.
Connected story: Ludescher and Lutz add a tasting hall to a winery in Austria’s Wachau region
“All walls are clad in these panels over and under the staircase also, and we worked tirelessly to not let positions of light switches, alarm panel and energy sockets, and so forth. to detract from their beauty.”
In trying to keep with the “Mary Shelley-inspired” colour palette, the kitchen worktops and doors are made from dark laminate graphite, while a bar region is constructed from black-finished oak.
Mild steel – iron ore steel in its easiest form – was folded and welded to produce a staircase that prospects up to the showroom. Industrial labelling was deliberately positioned on the bottom phase to showcase the rawness of the materials.
“We like to use palettes of authentic and sincere supplies which are endlessly comprehensive in clever methods,” Astridge stated. “The way the light jumps down the panels through the staircase void and trickles through the gaps in the mild steel staircase spindles is what fired up us.”
Storage cages constructed from welded steel rods hang from the ceiling. These are powder-coated black, and pendant lights hang within them to throw gridded shadows across the room.
A glazed trapdoor in the floor provides a view down to the illuminated spiral wine cellar, which is capable of storing up to two,800 bottles.
Astridge is based in Tufnell Park, north London. The architect’s earlier projects include a leather-lined dressing space in a refurbished residence, and an extension to a Victorian property featuring a varied materials palette.
Photography and movie are by Nick Worley.
Axonometric diagram Dezeen