Butlers and Colonial Wharf is one of London’s finest dockland warehouses, situated amongst the capital’s twisting Dickensian streets. This top floor, double-height, luxury apartment has been remodelled through architectural intervention. The historic timber structure of the Grade II listed building forms a backdrop to newly created rooms, fenestration, state of the art lighting and a raised platform and retractable rooflight which cleverly form a very desirable outdoor area, all of which aesthetically unify to create a remarkable interior. When our clients purchased the apartment over twelve years ago the layout was inefficient, with partition walls, fire doors, corridors and low ceilings. Consequently, the space was lacking in both natural light and ventilation, two key attributes which are now considered vital in a modern dwelling. Our brief was to consider a radical redesign of the existing, inefficient space, with no preconditions or constraints, other than ensuring that the proposals met with the highest standards. The apartment was cleared of the sub-dividing walls, unnecessary corridors and carelessly placed interventions, bringing it back to its bare brick and timber shell. It was then re-engineered. A key move was to introduce new roof lights, as well as replacing existing industrial scale windows. Now, floods of light enter the once dark recesses within the flat and natural ventilation enhances environmental comfort. A monolithic, steel-framed, glazed screen separates the private bedrooms from the newly created, large central living space, whilst switchable glass between the bathroom and lounge allows visual connectivity or privacy as required. The layout has evolved from accommodating one single narrow bedroom to providing two generous rooms, both with direct access to a shared luxury bathroom including a steam spa with folding mahogany reclining benches. Above the kitchen island a suspended, metal-framed platform with glazed floor, accessed via a bespoke ladder, creates a mezzanine level, over which a large rooflight retracts to create a unique external space with views to the City of London. The open spatial arrangements and new structural intervention appear integrated seamlessly into the existing historic building. This natural simplicity belies complex fire engineering, structural design and site management all undertaken in a challenging central London location. From inception to completion, as well as the creating and developing the design, McDaniel Woolf has provided full contract administration.