The Sash Kitchen, Hampstead NW3

Sash windows in a period house live or die on the survey. We measured every opening ourselves, and the painted timber sashes, with slim glazing bars, were made to order to those sizes. From the street the house reads as it always has, only sharper.

At the back, a wide sliding door in a slim dark frame sits level with the floor inside and the paving outside. A walk-on rooflight in the courtyard takes daylight down to the level below. Our own fitters installed the lot.