‘I live in a converted garage'

Amie Oyston brought space and light into a dilapidated mechanic’s workshop, digging out a new basement level and building a beautiful glazed internal courtyard

Having renovated her previous home in London, Amie Oyston was looking for a new project when she was told about a run-down single-storey brick building in Hackney, east London, that was ripe for conversion. ‘It was originally part of a steelworks, then later it was used by a mechanic as a car repair workshop,’ says Amie. ‘There’s no denying that turning it into a home has been an enormous challenge.’

REVIEWING THE PROPERTY

‘The empty workshop was crammed onto a small site between Victorian terraces and lit from above by a roof light,’ says Amie, who worked with her father and a local builder on the project. ‘It’s a tiny Conservation Area plot, right next to a listed building and when I bought it, it had no planning permission at all, which meant that we weren’t able to knock it down or extend.

SPLIT-LEVEL LAYOUT

‘Fortunately, my architect Stuart Hatcher (stuarthatcher.com) came up with a brilliant split-level design, which was granted planning permission. His plan included a new basement, which involved excavating hundreds of tons of earth from the site.’ A steel glazing framework was installed, which included a large roof lantern as well as remote-controlled roof lights. ‘There are no conventional windows, so I used glass in different ways to make the interior as bright as possible,’ says Amie. ‘Now that the build is complete, the house is a bit of a Tardis. There are no windows overlooking it, so it’s a completely private space, and the whole area is really bright, too, thanks to the central glazed courtyard that acts like a light well, allowing daylight to reach every corner of the house.’

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN