Andrew Pilkington combines two Notting Hill apartments with a central atrium
A wooden staircase cantilevers over the central atrium that architect Andrew Pilkington has cut through the first floor of a Victorian building in west London to transform two small apartments into one large residence (+ slideshow).
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
London-based Andrew Pilkington merged the first and second floor of an end-of-terrace block to create 3floor-in2 Apartment, a 120-square-metre residence over two full floors and a partial mezzanine level, in Notting Hill, west London.
The project unites two previously separate residences in the building, creating an apartment with an open-plan living and dining area on the lower floor, and two bedrooms and a study above.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
The architect retained the exterior shell of the Victorian property and a number of the apartments' original features, including arched window frames and doors.
He combined these with contemporary white-washed interiors, exposed woodwork and primary-coloured accents.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
"Fundamentally this project demonstrates that it is possible to respect and celebrate the good bones of traditional spaces while creating rooms with an innovative forward focus," Pilkington told Dezeen.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
To create an interior connection between the two apartments, the architect inserted the new atrium at the centre of the plan, providing a staircase that connects the two floors and a small mezzanine level.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_27.jpg)
"To unite two flats over two floors as one apartment they must feel in no way like two joined flats," said the architect.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
Entrance to the apartment is via a communal doorway and staircase that also provides residents on the upper floors with access to their properties.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_24.jpg)
The front door opens from the staircase into the atrium and an adjoining dining room, while an open-plan living room and kitchen look onto communal gardens at the rear of the property.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_23.jpg)
A narrow set of steps with white edges and wooden treads faces the doorway, leading up to the bedroom level and mezzanine beyond.
"The interior staircase of edge-revealed plywood starts as white squared boxes, then passes up connecting the interior levels through a series of differently figured spaces," said the architect.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
Primary-coloured I-beams support a coffered wooden ceiling – the underside of the wooden-floored upper level. The steel beams are painted in shades of yellow and red that contrast with the pale interior decoration of the lower floor.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
The stairs break at a landing between the two storeys, offering residents a place to survey the open-plan sitting and dining area below. Where the stairs continue to the first floor, they cantilever over the space below.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_25.jpg)
This section of the wooden staircase is bracketed to the underside of the steel supports with large metal bolts. "It's a mix of a minimal aesthetic with industrial touches," said Pilkington.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
The first-floor study features storage cupboards with concertina doors built into the walls.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_13.jpg)
A bridge across the atrium leads through to a bathroom and two bedrooms overlooking the garden.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_16.jpg)
In the bathroom, a white spiral-shaped "nautilus" shower-cubicle constructed from a curled sheet of polypropylene echoes curved elements on the ground floor of the property.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_18.jpg)
Hatches cut into the navy blue walls of the bathroom and hallway open onto the stairwell, providing natural light for these areas that have no exterior windows.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_32.jpg)
Three crisscrossing light tubes hang from the ceiling over the stairwell, providing additional lighting and a focal point above the atrium.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_468_34.jpg)
At the end of the hallway, a small flight of ply steps lead up to a wood-lined annex on the third-level mezzanine and back down into the study.
Photography by Kilian O'Sullivan.
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_1.gif)
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_2.gif)
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_3.gif)
![Elgin Crescent apartment by Andrew Pilkington](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Elgin_Crescent_Apartment_by_Andrew_Pilkington_dezeen_0.gif)