The chapel conversion sits in the Mayfield Grange development in southern Britain. It is built by Weston Homes, comprises a selection of new build and refurbished houses and apartment blocks, together with this Grade II Listed converted Chapel. The entire development is situated in rolling countryside with breathtaking views.

As befits a conversion of this type, much of the original splendour of this interior has been retained. The chapel has it all, from the beautifully decorated vaulted ceiling to the unique stone carvings and dramatic stained glass windows. The builders have provided contemporary features and finishes to complement the original style, with special attention paid to the lighting.

Much of the ground floor remains open plan. The living area is dominated by a stunning stained glass window, whilst an elegant spiral staircase provides access to a mezzanine floor. On the mezzanine you find the master bedroom and ensuite. The separate bespoke kitchen includes state-of-the-art units and integrated appliances.

Ground Floor: 1 bedroom with courtyard, open plan study and second living room with original roller-door blind and full height operational door/windows, large bathroom with laundry, courtyard and lock up garage. Whole floor could easily be used as home office.

First Floor: Huge open plan living, dining, kitchen and meals area with expansive kitchen joinery, pantry, black mirrored splashback, stunning island bench area and extensive outdoor room-style entertainer’s courtyard.

Second Floor: Oversized master bedroom with city views, walk in robe and ensuite, 3rd bedroom, an amazing wrap around balcony and sun deck.

The wide Greek-Revival style façade was added in 1911.Entry though a pair of massive timber doors is to a vestibule which steps up to the grand living room (155 sq.m. approx), flooded with light, and featuring a stone open fireplace. At one end is a fitted study, and at the other is a splendidly proportioned dining area. (Here, a faded painted banner proclaiming ‘Holiness Becomes Thy House’ testifies to the building’s provenance.)

The kitchen, elegantly fitted with Smeg appliances and marble benchtops, adjoins a butler’s pantry. Two sets of French doors open to a broad east-facing paved terrace with views over Fitzroy. To the other side of the entrance hall are 2 double bedrooms (one opening to a small courtyard), separated by a smart family-size bathroom. Above is a mezzanine gallery with a study area at one end, leading to the apartment-sized main bedroom/retreat, with dressing room, bathroom and separate W/C.

On the upper level is a voluminous storage space with potential for conversion to further accommodation. The garage level, entered from a right-of-way and including a cellar, storeroom, powder room and workshop, might be modified to include a rumpus room or work-from-home space.

Layered with Fitzroy history and retaining exquisite period detail, this light-filled property minutes from Brunswick Street features hydronic heating, richly polished timber floors, security entry and quality fittings. It’s one of a kind!

If you like it, you can even buy it now.

This chapel-loft situated in the quaint Flemish village of Bazel has been reconverted into 2 loft-type houses. The building was built in the second half of the 19th century by Countess Villain XIIII next to the castle of Wissekerke as a place where the children of the village could be educated.

The building later became derelict was sold and renovated into a residence. On the ground floor, you can find our offices, with windows overlooking the back garden. In the entrance hall, you still experience the grandeur of the architecture. The owners have kept the space quite open here, which makes the originally monumental and religious character of the building still tangible. The façade and especially the windows are so monumental that the rest of the architecture is logically subordinate to both this image and to the convenience of daily life.

Have a look at the loft of Antoon, Natascha and their two children

The kitchen is minimalist, equipped with built-in appliances and storage. A wooden table with transparent chairs for six is an open invite to guests.

Bullet holes from the Second World War testify the historical significance of the building. The heart of this hermetic concrete cube contains an exhibition of contemporary works from the private collection of ad agency founder and publisher, Christian Boros. In order to create a suitable space for the collection, architect Jens Casper deconstructed the 3,000 square meter bunker, which was once devoid of natural light, transforming it into a complex room arrangement. The glass superstructure of the penthouse is the polar opposite of the cubeâ€s massiness.

There, Christian and his wife, Karen, live with their son amidst paintings by Elizabeth Peyton and a series of installations by groundbreaking artists such as Olafur Eliasson. It is a dream home that once seemed impossible to realize, but has now become an art manifesto for Berlinâ€s historical Mitte district, where change is the norm.

Christian Boros is the owner of an advertising agency with offices in Wuppertal and Berlin. He has been collecting contemporary art since 1990. Over this time, he has put together a private collection with around 500 works by artists such as Damian Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Elizabeth Peyton, Wolfgang Tillmans, Anselm Reyle, Manfred Pernice, Tobias Rehberger, John Bock, Wilhelm Sasnal and Michel Majerus.

The Boros Collection now has a permanent home in a converted bunker in Berlin -Mitte. The first presentation of selected exhibits, to open in June 2008, will be exclusively works which incorporate the bunker space itself. Sculptures, room and light installations as well as performance works will create a new experience of the rooms in the bunker. Most of the works were installed and staged by the artists themselves. There was no curator. The artists sometimes altered or added to their works in order to overcome the sometimes difficult space, and some of the works were created especially for the bunker.

The private collection can be viewed by prior appointment. There will be two-hour guided tours every Saturday. He currently has comprehensive groups of works of 57 artists. Parts of the collection were previously shown to the public in two museum exhibitions.

The Bunker

In 2003, Christian Boros bought the 1942-built bunker and started to prepare the conversion of the building for the collection of contemporary art. Jens Casper from the Berlin-based office Realarchitektur was entrusted with the conversion. It took a year of planning and four years of conversion; in addition, the 1000 square meter roof space was turned into a penthouse complete with terraces and a roof garden.

The new private museum has 3000 m2 of exhibition space, with room heights varying from 2,30 to 13 metres. Many of the low intermediate floors were removed using diamond cutting technology – an extremely time consuming technique. In addition to this, the concrete floors that were cut out had to be broken up inside the bunker and then to be removed by hand. The 120 initial rooms were changed into 80 rooms. There is no daylight. The buildingâ€s monumental character has been preserved: all evidence of the war has been left on the outside and inside one can still see the different uses of the building.

History of the bunker

The bunker is on the corner of Albrechtstrasse and Reinhardtstrasse in the Berlin Mitte. It was built in 1942 as the Reichsbahnbunker Friedrichstrasse (State Railway Bunker). Planning began in 1941 under the supervision of Albert Speer in line with the “Fuehrerâ€s Immediate Programme” for the creation of civil air raid defences. The bunker was to offer passengers from the near by Berlin- Friedrichstrasse railway station protection against Allied air raids. The civil population from the surrounding residential area and visitors to the German Theatre could also shelter here when the air raid warning sounded; it could house up to 2000 people. After the German surrender, the Red Army took over the bunker and used it as a prison.

From the mid-1950s onwards, it was used as a store by the nationally owned Berlin fruit and vegetable conglomerate. The thick walls and the sophisticated ventilation system provided an almost constant inside temperature, making it especially suitable for the storage of tropical fruit: in the DDR the locals also called it the ‘Banana Bunkerâ€.

After reunification, the techno and fetish scene discovered the bunker as a party location. The “Bunker” was considered one of the most hardcore techno clubs in Germany, with the SM and fetish parties organised there achieving fame well beyond the borders of Berlin. “Sexperimenta” took place in the bunker in 1995 and the bunker saw its last techno party in 1996.

It is a square building which is about 38 m long and 16 m tall. Inside, the shelter covers five floors. There is a separate stairwell on each of the four sides. The external walls are made of 2 m thick solid reinforced concrete. The original rooms were just 2.3 m high. The roof is 3.10 m thick reinforced concrete. What was known as “blue concrete” was used to build it.

The chapel was built in 1868, with typical Methodist architectural simplicity, yet with wonderful stone detailing and proportion. In this meticulous and imaginative transformation, designed by Gary Tarn, the exterior has been protected, cocooning a dramatic double-height living space, 4/5 bedrooms, large studio space, a family room, mezzanine study, a luxurious exercise pool and a cinema /disco room. It functions equally as a relaxing family home or a fabulous weekend entertaining party house. Tarn’s refined style of design focuses on simple, voluminous spaces which are finished with an exacting attention to detail (to see another Tarn project recently sold in London click here). This house features a Tsunami kitchen (built by Minotti), engineered-oak floors, and a web-brick lighting system. In a nod to the buildingâ€s ecclesiastical past, a stunning 7m double-height wall finished in 23-carat gold leaf reflects the changing light in the main living space; comforting in winter, and ever-changing in summer. All the heating requirements for the building are provided by a pair of air-source heat pumps, which are both economically and environmentally favourable. The property borders agricultural land, and looks out over a site of special scientific interest – a water meadow which often attracts wildlife including heron and wild deer. There are far-reaching views and the garden boasts fruit trees and a small boules court, while a gravelled drive provides space for numerous vehicles. The house can be found in Donhead St. Mary, a sought-after village surrounded by rolling countryside that has a high proportion of large, detached residences. There are local stores at the neighbouring village of Ludwell, and a village pub nearby in Donhead St Andrew. A range of shops and local amenities is available in the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury (2 miles), with a wider selection in the cathedral town of Salisbury to the east. The property  is approximately 15 minutes’ drive from the A303, providing easy access to London or the West Country. The local railway station at Tisbury (approx 10 minutes’ drive) provides a frequent and direct route to London Waterloo in 100 minutes. Landing facilities are at Compton Abbas airstrip (10 minutes’ drive). There is an excellent range of schools within the area, and the property is ideal for access to Port Regis, Sandroyd, Canford and Bryanston.

The Mechanics Institute Hall – think Victorian era guild or trades halls. Almost churchlike. This modern conversion plays with scale and height, positive and negative space, open and enclosed. Love the kitchen, the spiral staircase and the soaring grey ceilings, the clever use of half walls of storage to divide spaces and the privacy of the bedroom and bathroom tucked away in the mezzanine but a little confused by the large box like lights.

Here’s a video walkthrough:

It is being auctioned today, grab it while you can!

The Wrigley Building is located in the burgeoning area of Leslieville, a part of the city you’ll see develop more and more as it attracts a greater number of loft-owners, who typically keep pulse with contemporary style.

This historic building was originally a Wrigley’s warehouse before undergoing a true loft conversion. It was built in 1907 and converted into 79 hard loft units in 1998. It’s in the heart of the Film District, and ideally located close to The Beaches, Downtown and an easy walk to The Danforth, the Queen Street streetcar, Shops and Restaurants.

The units are true open concept loft live/work spaces with 13.5′ ceilings, exposed brick and wood beams, concrete floors, large fluted columns and floor to ceiling warehouse windows. Many have metal Spiral Stairs to raised mezzanine master bedrooms. Maintenance fees are low due to limited amenities. Many owners have done considerable renovations and upgrades to their suites. This building is considered great value for a loft conversion.

Established by John Knox, The Kirk was built in 1867 in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick. The building features brick polychrome which was at the height of its popularity during its construction. Alternating cream and umber brick mark the gear-tooth points and wrap the building in tiny quoins. The church became an icon for the community with its style being mimicked in a nearby substation as well as homes.

The clients had seen a Williams and Boag church conversion up-country and liked it. The raking floor had been retained there and, as here, a house fabric inlaid within an earlier church: not to replace, but to co-exist with that church and its legacy as a building that had once been the core of a community and its collective identity. It is a lot for a house to bear and here in the John Knox Elsternwick conversion the co-existence is finely balanced. Williams and Boag were determined that new fabric should be clearly distinguished from the old, perhaps feeling that producing the detail and texture of an older form by confusing the reading of an original casts the altered building into limbo homogeneity. The proposition is simple: new and old, rather than either/or. Accept the plurality and from its overlaps and clashes comes a new and particular unity in rhythms and episodes.

Inside, though the organ is gone, the kinetic heart of this church remains: in the floor raked to assist the congregation to gather, see and hear the delivery of the sermon; the planked dadoes stiff and stern, the satin glow of the timber ceiling and its spectacular trusses; the sudden and rich bounties of Ferguson and Urieâ€s stained glass; the near-black timber of the original floor and Elders†platform; and the massive core – a pulpit for announcing The Word, shifted about three metres from its original place.

How is this organised here? One senses the breath of Charles Moore, via Peter Williams†old colleague Kevin Borland, flowing through this design. The immediate encounter with this is through the expansion of perceived space with mirrors, an idea of John Soaneâ€s reworked by Moore, especially in his later designs. The bedrooms read as houses within a larger roofed volume, coupled to the stage-like sense of the platforms and enclosures inside. Cutting across the windows and corbels of the original church, they are all reminders that one is inside a very different building. Peter Williams, who worked on Borlandâ€s Paton house in 1970, is among those architects to explore Mooreâ€s buildings-within- buildings in Australian settings as an address of circumstance and a generator of the episodic.

The interior is also strongly theatrical in the sense of a stage setting for the family and its individual drama of movement and living. Robin Boyd, also interested by Moore, matched these themes in his Featherston house in Ivanhoe (1967), where a major platform-dominated volume is held in co-existence with added bedroom, bathroom and kitchen areas blistered outside into pods – or as Moore called them, ‘saddlebagsâ€. Here, these pods are the family room and kitchen area, and the bathrooms are drawn back into miniature house forms that envelop the bedrooms so the original church needed only one new opening to accommodate the house inside it.

The large garage at the front, with three bays and bench and work areas, is wisely set out as a separate building. With different texture and a hipped-roof variant, it has a quite different fabric from the church. A carport, linked to family rooms, is similarly clear of the original church. External additions are concentrated on the north.

The spread of the kitchen and family area is woven with lines traced out from the church buttresses. These lines cross a shallow moat with its stepped islands and kerbing, then a paved area to the swimming pool, before diving into the water and coming up the other side (this reworks High Victorian polychrome, which traditionally linked differing episodes and immediate context). These trace lines also run back in turn through the new plan inside the church. At ground floor they pick up the line of the laundry island (in a tall fold-away cupboard), the lift and bar storage, the bar, the dining room divider, the stairwell and each of the bedroom partitions.

The house component itself is necessarily complex. As Alex Selenitsch observed of Edmond and Corrigan, the client family in a house design is recognised as a group of differing parties: often competing and sometimes in alignment, a ‘body politic†with the variance and diversity of a community. We fixate on architectural post-modernism as a taste reaction that reinstates columns and styles, but we often forget its initial and long-gathering impetus: a perception of circumstance as of multiples and of parallel truths, where beauty in a buildingâ€s bearing lies most in the engagement of these conditions, rather than in their avoidance in finish, formal beauty and homogeneity.