Supermodel Lily Cole has become the latest homeowner to join the “don’t move, improve” revolution.
Cole, 24, is planning to wring extra space out of her London apartment by building a mezzanine level above her bedroom.
The gallery space will accommodate, among other things, a new walk-in wardrobe for the Cambridge graduate.
Cole bought her apartment in the Grade I-listed St Pancras Chambers, formerly the Midland Grand Hotel, which sits between King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, off plan in 2006.
She chose the Victorian gothic building, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott and converted into apartments in a £200 million project, in part for its transport links to Cambridge where she studied history of art.
Her plans to remodel the apartment include removing a shower room to give her a larger entrance lobby.
Using the double height ceilings, she will create a new mezzanine level with space for a walk in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom above her bedroom and accessed by a flight of stairs.
This will be linked to an existing mezzanine level above the hall using a balcony link.
The “Romeo and Juliet” design will, according to Tim Greatrex, who is acting for Cole, “add a sense of theatre and eccentricity that embodies Sir Gilbert Scott’s work”.
“We feel this design proposal fulfils the owner’s desire to make the best use of the layout of the apartment whilst creating the minimal impact and change to the original Grade 1*-listed fabric,” he said in a report to Camden council.
Council planners now have eight weeks to decide whether to grant listed building consent for the model’s plans.
The impact of the recession has increased interest in home improvement projects rather than selling up, as property prices have stagnated and transaction rates stand at record low levels.
