Bedminster Brilliance

We meet Architects Paul and Holly at their custom-designed Bedminster home to learn more about life on Warden Road.

“I’m originally from Ireland, near Galway”, explains Paul. “And I’m a proud Yorkshire lass”, adds Holly. So what could possibly pull the pair away from their hometowns?

“We met in London, and I think it was back in 2014, the Sunday Times named Bristol as the happiest city to live in, so we came for an explore and we loved the manageable scale of Bristol, it’s so culturally rich. Bedminster in particular for us exuded this creative energy that felt familiar, lively and infinitely curious!”, says Paul.

Finding Their Own Home

Working respectively at 310 Studio Architects and the Art and Architecture collective Assemble, Paul and Holly went on the hunt for a home that they could make their own.

“We knew we both have the skills to give a house a new lease of life, and our contemporary styles complement each other and marry up, it was amazing to work together and have directorial and creative freedom over our style and design.”

“We knew we both have the skills to give a house a new lease of life, it was amazing to work together and have directorial and creative freedom over our style and design.”

Designing a Versatile and Adaptable Home

“Eventually, we found an HMO that hadn’t been updated in about twenty years but had fantastic bones. It had a great story behind it, and you could tell it had had a colourful life beforehand! Our brief was to design a home that was versatile, adaptable to the phases of life, and that’s exactly what we created. Paul’s early sketches established where the light was best in the house, so we flipped the layout upside down, moving the living space and one bedroom upstairs, which just worked perfectly with the floorplan. It gave us more space, as well as more privacy, and each room really has its own identity.”

Renovations and Functional Enhancements

With the property split into a three-bedroom maisonette and a one-bedroom basement flat, the design duo didn’t stop with their living space, and so pushed forward with the downstairs renovations, as well as a little garden addition.

“The basement was another section of the project, it was a bit like a rabbit warren, the layout just didn’t work at all given the space we were working with. The bathroom was the biggest room which made no sense, so again, we tailored the layout to allow more flow through the space. We had some beautiful custom-made French Doors brought over from Belfast, which played up to the character of the property and separate the living room and bedroom beautifully”, explains Paul.

The "Shalace": A Space for Work and Creativity

“Our final piece to the puzzle was creating our Shalace (Shed Palace, obviously). We needed a space, separate from the home that could act as a workplace and studio, whilst being aesthetically pleasing, and the corrugated cladding delivers this brilliantly”, adds Holly.

Looking Ahead

With the next project calling in Keynsham for the young family, Holly and Paul have nothing but love for their bespoke Bedminster home.

“We’ve loved working together to create our home here. It’s been the backdrop for the different stages of our life, from housing friends to starting our family, but it’s time for new energy to be brought to the home, and for new memories to be made.”

“We’ve loved working together to create our home here. It’s been the backdrop for the different stages of our life, from housing friends to starting our family, but it’s time for new energy to be brought to the home, and for new memories to be made.”