After living in a compact flat in West Norwood, south London, Robyn and Mike Collins relocated to Brockley, where they could gain far more space for their money.
They purchased a characterless, draughty mid-century terrace house on the corner of a busy road. With leaky walls, dark, maze-like rooms and a serious lack of personality, the house needed work.
“It was liveable, but the layout was weird,” explains Robyn. “It had a utility space in the middle that took up a lot of room, and a pillar in the centre of the living area.” However, it offered plenty of promise, with a wide footprint and space at the back for an extension.
Project details
- Location Lewisham, south London
- Project Full renovation and extension of a 1950s home
- House size 98sq m
- Build cost £219,500
Grand plans
The couple lived in the house as it was for two years, while they saved up enough money to carry out a major house renovation. Their aim? To inject a bold, Miami-inspired aesthetic into the home’s beige rooms, while drawing in maximum natural light and improving the property’s thermal performance.
To search for the perfect designer, Robyn typed “playful local architect” into Pinterest. However, she had her eyes on one firm in particular.
“Office S&M Architects always use colour in unusual ways and do things that are a bit different,” she says. “I was really drawn to that. We wanted the design to be surprising and to push the limits. We had faith that they would achieve that.”
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Designing joy
Working with the firm’s co-founder, Catrina Stewart, Robyn and Mike proffered a very unique reference for inspiration – a bakery in Glasgow.
“ARD Bakery makes the most incredible, Memphis-inspired cakes,” says Robyn. An abundance of colour and shapes, these cakes can’t help but make you smile. “You can see the house as you come down the road, so we wanted it to be something that other people could enjoy; to bring a bit of joy to this little corner of south London.”
Taking inspiration from ARD Bakery’s exciting creations, as well as American diners and digital art, Catrina designed a contemporary renovation that honoured the house’s 1950s origins, through the use of textured render, sharp and soft shapes and tiled detailing.
She suggested opening up the ground floor to merge previously isolated rooms into a spacious wraparound living area. A side extension would make space for a bright kitchen with large glazing elements, and a new curved wall would carve off a section of the space for a downstairs loo.
To address the home’s thermal issues, Catrina focused on improving the building’s fabric using Rockwool’s sustainable stone wool natural insulation and high-performance Velfac architectural glazing.
To work with the couple’s tight budget, the original windows upstairs would be retained. With sustainability in mind, the design would incorporate as many of the original materials as possible, too, such as the exterior shingles and pebbledash, which would be carefully restored and painted.
Finally, Catrina suggested wrapping the garden in an undulating fence idea. “The design process was highly collaborative and I really appreciated that,” says Robyn. “It felt very respectful – we respected Catrina’s expertise and felt very led by her, but equally she listened to our ideas and what we wanted.”
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Management and materials
Once the plans were set, they were submitted to Lewisham Council and despite the home’s daring makeover, they were signed off within the standard 13 weeks.
“It was a very smooth process,” says Robyn. “Lewisham Council are very open to doing bold things with housing; even their planning application package is very creative and beautifully designed. We ended up having no challenges to the design.”
Catrina took on project management duties and organised the tender process. “We chose to use a chunk of our budget for this,” says Robyn. “There were things we couldn’t do because of that, like the first-floor bathroom, but having someone experienced to manage the project was really important to us. We knew there could be a lot of obstacles, and felt reassured having Catrina on board to keep the project on track.”
TW Space Conversion were chosen to tackle the work. “They came back with the most reasonable contract and after looking at their previous projects, we had faith they could do the job,” says Robyn.
Work began in January 2023, with the construction of the rear extension. Built on concrete foundations, it was constructed from blockwork. Some of the interior walls of the home were removed, opening up the floorplan for the creation of a free-flowing, L-shaped living, dining and kitchen area.
Externally, the home was finished with pastel lilac render, complemented by mint-green drainage pipes, checkerboard tiles and a curved pink porch idea. The couple were able to live off-site during the project, staying with Mike’s mum, but they regularly dropped by to keep an eye on progress and were heavily involved in the selection of materials, finishes and colours.
Amazingly, Robyn and Mike admit the journey was smooth sailing. “It was a really positive experience,” says Robyn. “We were expecting things to go wrong, or for it to be really stressful, but they didn’t and it wasn’t. We had a great three-way working relationship and tackled any issues together. Everyone was up for collective problem solving.”
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Spotlight on alternative to terrazzo
Keen to add playful pops both inside and out, Robyn and Mike chose a terrazzo-inspired surface for the kitchen worktops and backsplash – accents can also be found outside.
“We originally wanted to go with The Good Plastic Company, who makes sustainable surface materials using recycled plastics, but we needed something that could be exposed to heat,” says Robyn. “We found Mirrl and sent them the colours we wanted. They quickly sent us a sample. It looked almost like confetti.”
This solid surface material features a poplar plywood substrate, decorated with giant flecks of dried paint. A resin seals the top. The material is not only sustainable, but highly resilient, waterproof, food safe and repairable. Each sheet of Mirrl is one-of-a-kind and made to order, making this awesome detail completely unique to Robyn and Mike’s home.
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Living in colour
The main elements of the house were finished in September 2023, after which Robyn and Mike got hands on with decorating. “We took it in turns in the evenings to come to the house and paint,” says Robyn. “We chose all the colours ourselves – we have a keen eye for colours and how to balance them.”
After saving up a while longer, the couple also asked TW Space Conversion to come back and renovate their upstairs bathroom. “They were happy for us to just give them a quick design on the back of a piece of paper and then they got on with it.”
Today, the couple’s home is like a beacon on the street – calling out to those who wish to take in a true piece of property art. Everywhere you look you’ll spot something fun and interesting – from the zigzag marmoleum floor, to the terrazzo-inspired accents.
The latter of which is Robyn’s favourite part of the house. “The most rewarding moment of the project was coming to the house and seeing this bespoke material for the first time,” says Robyn. “It was custom-made especially for us by Mirrl. The surface is one of the most joyful parts of the property.”
The house doesn’t pretend to be grown up in any way and that’s exactly what Robyn and Mike were looking to achieve. “Interiors can be seen as quite stuffy, serious things. Our home sticks two fingers up to that,” says Robyn.
As for tackling another project in the future, the couple are keen. Robyn concludes, “If we had the opportunity, we would do it all again as it was such a good experience and I loved the design process. I was in my element!”
This stunning property won the Best Interior category in the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2025, in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times. If you’re keen to find more inspiration, check out this colourful 1970s terrace where a timber-frame extension helped enhance family life.
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