The WhatHouse? team recently visited the south-west London district of Gunnersbury to learn more and take a tour of Apt Living Kew Bridge, where Paradigm Land is converting a 1990s office building with an attractive, contemporary design into a collection of ‘micro-living’ apartments.
We’re dropped off at the front door of the building and make our way up to the marketing suite to be greeted by Cameron Smith and Josh Garside of Apt Living.
They give us a quick overview of the development. It’s been remodelled to provide 274 apartments, with a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units to suit a range of space requirements and budgets. The building will also incorporate a lot of facilities for residents to use and enjoy. It’s from here that we see one of the big appeals of this site – many apartments on the north side have views across Gunnersbury Park, which is currently having major work to provide brand new sports facilities to complement the extensive open space.
We’re told that the vast majority of buyers to date are first-timers from all sorts of professional backgrounds. It’s been a 60/40 split of couples and single purchasers, and 10% have pets – a major selling point here, as many new apartment developments do not allow residents to have them. Two-thirds of properties have been bought using the government-backed London Help to Buy scheme, available here on properties up to £600,000.
We slip into hi-vis and boots to do a tour of the building. It’s a hive of activity and we see a range of layouts of apartments and communal spaces which are taking shape. The first properties here will be ready to move into in November this year, with completion for the development in 2020.
There are two show homes and they really show the ethos of Apt Living in micro-living. The very high ceilings (9-10 feet) were part of the office dimensions and together with the floor-to-ceiling windows that every home has, provide a real sense of space, even with the compact layouts. Full and clever use is made of every square foot. Full-height storage and shelving mean there’s somewhere to put everything away, whether for everyday use or occasional (it’s a few months until the Christmas decorations need to come out, for example, so they can be stored at the top).
With one show property designed by Homerun and another by Habitat, there’s very up-to-date decoration and trendy furniture that is within a reasonable budget and matches the specification and choice of kitchen units, worktops, flooring, fittings and bathrooms. There’s a stylish screen to give some privacy to the sleeping area in the studio apartment.
We’re fortunate to be rewarded for our tour with a lunch by Miguel Barclay, chef and author of a collection of One Pound Meal books. He’s a charming chap and demonstrates what can be done in an apartment’s kitchen with a delicious three-course meal. I’d sit there all day eating the chocolate dessert, but duty calls.
There are a number of residents-only amenities that are covered by the service charge (estimated at around £4.80/sq ft, meaning £130.80 per month for a 307 sq ft studio or £264.80 per month for a 662 sq ft two-bedroom apartment). These include the gym, games room, lounge and roof terrace for fun and relaxation alongside practical facilities such as a 24-hour concierge, storage lockers, bike storage and secure car parking (an extra cost, but only about 50% of buyers so far have acquired one). There are also four guest rooms, charged at £50 a night.
Managing director Josh said: “Most first-time buyers we see at Apt Living want amenity space in which to keep fit, work and hang out with friends so we are excited to be able to show potential new buyers just how our amenity space will look when complete, coupled with how the kitchen space is great for dinner parties. We are offering potential buyers the chance to see what the new amenity space will look like with a buyer journey experience in our marketing suite. We would recommend first-time buyers come and see for themselves what Apt has to offer, before the 50 new apartments are snapped up.”
There have been keen buyers looking forward to moving into their new homes here. Hadden White, 28, currently shares a rented house in Tooting but has purchased a one-bedroom apartment. “I immediately loved the simplistic design of the apartments; they seem really well laid out,” he said. I never thought I would be able to afford this side of London and where else would I be able to afford floor-to-ceiling windows?”
Stephanie Page and Raffaele Cardone are renting in Barnes before moving into their two-bedroom, first-floor apartment here: “When we visited we were bowled over by the great views of the park and we are moments away from Kew Bridge train station. Apt Living has also been creative with the space.”
The design-led approach is reflected in the specification with all apartments featuring natural engineered oak floors throughout, designer door furniture, fully integrated kitchens featuring Bosch and Zanussi appliances and a Corian kitchen worktop with built-in sink. A sequence of defined spaces maximise living accommodation. From the apartment entrance, a seamless wall of custom-built joinery runs the length of the apartments, providing a neat hideaway for essential utilities, study, kitchen and seating and whose lines lead the eye to the park views beyond.
Simon Robinson, MSMR Architects director overseeing the project commented: “Apt Living wanted a step change in accessibly priced, compact living, so we were brought on board for our experience of high-quality residential interiors and our expertise in space planning. Our solution is a flexible, seamless wall of custom-built joinery, designed to run the length of the apartments. This provides a neat hideaway for essential utilities, study, kitchen and seating, freeing up living space.”
In this part of the capital, local and national transport is very convenient. Kew Bridge railway station is an eight-minute walk away (18 minutes into Waterloo), and Gunnersbury Tube station is 12 minutes away on foot, then under half-an-hour away from the West End. There are a wealth of bus routes running from both stations. For drivers, the M4 and A205 South Circular are both ‘on the doorstep’.
The shops and amenities of Brentford, Chiswick, Gunnersbury and Kew are all well under 30 minutes away on foot, and within easy reach are a host of sports clubs and places of interest, such as Kew Gardens, Syon Park and Chiswick House. Not forgetting the River Thames of course.
Prices at Apt Living Kew Bridge currently start from £295,000, £325,000 and £540,000 respectively for studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
Find out more by booking an appointment with one of the selling agents (Savills, Marsh and Parsons, and Balgores) or on www.apt-living.co.uk. Contact the developer at [email protected] or 020 3143 4888. Please tell the team there you heard about it through Whathouse.com.
Find out more about Apt Living here:
Apt Living Film from harry on Vimeo.