When the couple first saw the place in 2021, in the throes of the pandemic, they liked the lateral floor plan—the apartment stretched the width of two and offered sweeping views of the park. The location was central, but because Regent’s Park is owned by the Crown Estate, the street in front of the building is closed to traffic from midnight to 7 a.m., resulting in total, almost-suburban, silence. “It just checked all these boxes,” recalls de Gunzburg. “It made sense.”
De Gunzburg was pregnant with Cy, their first child, and they needed the home in working order in time for his arrival. They had a decision to make: “We can either IKEA this and it might stay like that for two years, or we can try and really do this,” Chipperfield recalls. They chose the latter, ripping the place to shreds the day they got the keys and moving in the weekend before Cy was born.
Architecturally, Chipperfield calls the apartment “a little bit of a pastiche.” The late-19th-century building, constructed as private homes, converted into offices, and then back into apartments, is protected as a historic structure. But due to bombing during WW II, much of it has been reconstructed, allowing a bit more flexibility when it comes to renovation. “We didn’t want to fight what it should be,” Chipperfield says. “We wanted to take this back to what it could have been when it was a house.” Original cornices were cast and replicated; moldings were installed; oak herringbone floors and fireplaces were restored. When reconsidering the layout, however, they added a modern touch. Ceilings were raised and the two street-facing rooms, which contain the living room, kitchen, and dining area, were opened up (though there is a small enclosed “working kitchen” for prep when entertaining, to keep the mess out of view), making the space more sprawling and airy.
