Home tour | A vaulted loft apartment in London

On first glance, you might assume this soaring, cathedral-like space is some kind of purpose-built mansion on a huge countryside plot. It’s actually the top-floor flat of a Victorian house in Hampstead, London, which has undergone a total transformation thanks to Dan Marks and his team at architectural studio MATA.

The property belongs to a family who live abroad but use it as their base whenever they return to the UK. They commissioned MATA to renovate it throughout, opening up the previously cramped attic rooms while extending it from two bedrooms to three to better suit their needs.

Local conservation area rules dictated that any changes had to be invisible from the street, so MATA’s solution was to infill the valley between two parallel roof ridges. This created a new flat roof and substantially enlarged the internal space, while sitting entirely within the building’s existing footprint when viewed from ground level.

Inside, the roof’s structure has been left exposed, creating a vaulted ceiling that seems to float above the space. It also rises and falls with dramatic effect, in some places swooping up to 4.8m and in others sloping down to waist height to form more intimate, cosy corners. White finishes across the walls, ceiling and beams emphasise this geometry and enhance the feeling of light and space, as do Douglas fir floorboards treated with a white oil.

Contrasting with the pale hues is a central block made from oak, around which the apartment is arranged. It encompasses storage and a guest bathroom, and serves as a divider that separates the open-plan living, dining and kitchen area from the bedrooms beyond. It also supports a mezzanine sitting nook – a secluded eyrie for reading and relaxing, positioned beneath a skylight and accessed via an alternating-tread staircase hidden within the block itself.

One side of the block has been incorporated into the kitchen, where it’s offset by sleek off-white units together with counters and splashbacks made from creamy Taj Mahal quartzite stone. Suspended above the island is a minimalist browned-brass ‘I-MODEL’ lamp from Danish company ANOUR. Its discreet, cordless expression maintains open sightlines throughout the space, almost becoming part of the wider structure rather than a distracting afterthought.

Another ANOUR lamp – the cross-shaped ‘X-MODEL’ – hangs above the dining area, forming a visual anchor that zones and defines the space without overpowering it. A rich oak table and classic Hans J. Wegner ‘Wishbone’ chairs in a smoked finish echo the tones of the central block and provide further notes of warmth and tactility.

Darker timber, this time with groove detailing, also appears in bespoke headboards in all three bedrooms. One has integrated storage shelves; another extends to form wall panelling that wraps around the room, with a built-in desk and drawer unit beneath the window.

In the principal bedroom, meanwhile, the headboard doubles as a divider, partitioning the bed from a dressing area and ensuite bathroom behind. It’s a clever way to break up the large space and create an elegant focal point, without interfering with the ceiling structure above. Hidden LED strips and low-hanging pendant lights provide versatile illumination that can be dialled up for reading or dimmed down to give a calming glow.

I think you’ll agree this is a beautiful project – striking but not ostentatious, minimalist yet far from stark, and wonderfully liveable throughout. It’s also a home that’s sure to stand the test of time, with enduring materials and furniture, plus an ingenious roof design that means the internal layout could be reconfigured to suit future requirements without the need for any major structural work.

Photography by Felix Spiller, courtesy of MATA Architects