We were commissioned this Spring by Cambridgeshire architectural design company, The English Listed, to be involved in some interesting renovation on a contemporary house in Hemingford Abbots, Cambs involving designing and building this incredible bespoke contemporary double front door.
The house, dating from the mid 60s is a typical mid-century property featuring large open plan spaces and a lot of glazing. Working closely with the client, we wanted to create a statement focal point for the front of the house to complement a new stunning bronze anodised double height curtain wall at the front of the house, mirrored by a run of sliding patio doors across the entire rear elevation.
Designed in CAD in conjunction with The English Listed, the client was keen to achieve a contemporary design that referenced mid-century modern joinery and the iconic modernist houses of the late 50s and 60s.
The interior of the house is contemporary and features Scandinavian mid-century furniture from the period, as well as contemporary pieces, and the joinery in the house is largely in rosewood. We chose to specify American White oak for the door and frameset for its natural colour – we wanted to specify precisely the degree of colour to coordinate perfectly with the architectural detailing on the house – with anodised bronze bespoke aluminium door furniture and premium quality fittings.
It’s an extremely large double door, reaching almost two and half metres in height, so requires substantial fittings throughout so the Banham deadlock range was specified.
The precise colour of the door was achieved by fuming the wood using Van Dyck crystals; a traditional and natural method of producing various depths of rich tones and a firm favourite among furniture restorers. Made from walnut husks, the dye is prepared by dissolving the crystals in hot water – approximately 100g per litre. By altering the concentration, the depth of colour can be controlled. We love the richness of this finish and incredible way the grain of the wood is brought out.
We also clad the underside of the new aluminium porch in the same fumed American Oak and fitted LED downlight to cast a pool of light on the door threshold.
The clients are thrilled with the new frontage of their home and we’re pretty pleased with it too!
To find out more about our bespoke doors and windows or to discuss ways that we can enhance your home, please do get in touch with us by email on info@elyzien.com or calling us on +44 (0)1954269121
