Push open the oak-framed glass door of Heartwood, and let your fingertips brush over the edge of the warm linen window seat. The afternoon sun shines through three parallel vertical frame windows, casting lace-like shadows on the steel-structured staircase with oak steps. This townhouse hidden in the Colville Conservation Area is no longer the old house with dilapidated walls and dim light. The designer uses the dialogue between steel and wood to let new life veins grow in the century-old brick and stone skeleton. As the name heartwood implies, the texture of time precipitation brews the warm luster of contemporary life.

推开 Heartwood 的橡木框玻璃门，指尖掠过温润的亚麻布艺窗座边缘，午后阳光正透过三扇并列的竖框窗，在橡木踏步的钢构楼梯上投下蕾丝般的光影 —— 这座藏身于科尔维尔保护区的联排别墅，早已不是那个墙体倾颓、光线幽暗的老房子。设计师用钢与木的对话，让百年砖石骨架里长出了新的生命脉络，正如其名 “心材” 所喻，在时光沉淀的肌理中，酿出当代生活的温润光泽。

The brick and stone facade at the corner still retains the outline of the Victorian era, but the entrance is cleverly designed: the three-section wooden shopfront is made of oak to create a rhythm, the cast iron steps lead to the porch like suspended piano keys, and the galvanized steel handrails are as thin as strings, which together with the small cantilevered awnings form a barrier to keep the wooden structure dry in the rainy weather in London. This restoration of the old as it was treatment is like tying a new tie for the old house - it is both decent and full of enthusiasm for life.

街角的砖石立面仍保留着维多利亚时期的轮廓，却在入口处藏了巧思：三段式木构 shopfront 用橡木拼出韵律，铸铁台阶如悬浮的琴键引向门廊，镀锌钢扶手细如琴弦，与挑出的小雨棚共筑一道屏障，让木构在伦敦的阴雨里始终保持干爽。这处 “修旧如旧” 的处理，像给老房子系了条新领带 —— 既不失体面，又藏着对生活的热忱。

Passing through the porch, a white steel staircase suddenly comes into view. It has no heavy railings, and the open steps are like paper-cuts hollowed out by the sun. The oak pedals feel warm, and the metal frame is light. Light pours down from the 4.5-meter-long skylight on the top floor, refracting between the bones of the staircase, giving the basement kitchen a layer of soft light. This spine of light not only connects the four floors of space, but also allows every corner to breathe in the skylight - in the early morning, the stainless steel countertop in the kitchen will reflect the shadow of the staircase, like a morning song on the staff; at dusk, the oak bookshelf in the study will catch the slanting light, making the words on the pages a little warmer.

穿过门廊，白色钢构楼梯骤然闯入视野。它没有厚重的栏板，开放式踏步像被阳光镂空的剪纸，橡木踏板踩着温润，金属骨架透着轻盈。光线从顶层 4.5 米长的步行天窗倾泻而下，在楼梯的 “骨骼” 间折射，给地下室厨房镀上一层柔光。这道 “光之脊柱” 不仅串起四层空间，更让每个角落都能呼吸到天光 —— 清晨时，厨房的不锈钢台面会映出楼梯的影子，像五线谱上跳动的晨曲；黄昏时，书房的橡木书架则会接住斜斜的光，让书页上的文字都暖了几分。

The curved window seat in the living room is the most attractive corner. The oak frame is wrapped in linen cushions, and there is storage space underneath that can fit ten quilts. The curvature of the window edge just fits the spine. When reading here, your eyes will pass through the glass bookshelf and catch a glimpse of the study behind the stairs: the ceiling beams of Douglas fir are exposed, and the LED light strips are hidden in the wood cracks, like a layer of moonlight covering the old books on the bookshelf. The designer played a spatial magic here - the glass railing makes the double-height area of the study and the kitchen seem close and distant, and the fire curtain lowered in an emergency can instantly draw a clear line of demarcation. Practicality and poetry are never in conflict.

客厅的弧形窗座是最动人的角落。橡木框架裹着亚麻软垫，底下藏着能塞进十床棉被的储物空间，窗沿弧度刚好贴合脊背。坐在这里看书时，视线会穿过玻璃书架，瞥见楼梯后嵌着的书房：道格拉斯冷杉的天花板梁架裸露着，LED 灯带藏在木缝里，像给书架上的旧书披了层月光。设计师在这里玩了个空间魔术 —— 玻璃栏板让书房与厨房的双层挑高区若即若离，紧急时降下的防火帘又能瞬间划清界限，实用与诗意从不对立。

The basement kitchen is small but beautiful to the extreme. The oak booth is embedded in the corner, the stainless steel countertop is polished to the point where you can see your reflection, and the mirror on the top secretly extends the space by half a meter. When friends come to party in the evening, some people lean on the booth to open a bottle of wine, and some people stand by the floating shelf to set the tableware. The laughter will float up along the gap of the stairs, startling the people reading in the bedroom on the second floor - this separated but continuous connection is the most precious gift after the renovation of the old house.

地下室厨房把 “小而美” 做到了极致。橡木卡座嵌在墙角，不锈钢台面擦得能照见人影，高处的镜子偷偷把空间拉长了半米。傍晚朋友来聚会时，有人靠在卡座上开酒瓶，有人站在浮动架旁摆餐具，笑声会顺着楼梯缝往上飘，惊动二楼卧室里看书的人 —— 这种 “隔而不断” 的联结，正是老房子改造后最珍贵的礼物。

Each of the four bedrooms in upstairs has its own personality. In the master bedroom, the freestanding bathtub is embedded under the Corian wall. The floating wash basin in front of the frosted window looks like a piece of jade softened by moonlight. There is a small round window above the cylindrical shower room, and you can hear the sound of raindrops hitting the glass when it rains. The sliding door of the childrens room hides a whole oak bookcase. The bedtime story runs out of the pages and will be gently caught by the LED downlight.

upstairs 的四个卧室各有脾气。主卧里，独立浴缸嵌在可丽安墙面下，磨砂窗前的悬浮洗手台像块被月光浸软的玉，圆筒形淋浴间头顶开了小圆窗，下雨时能听见雨打玻璃的滴答声。儿童房的滑动门藏着整面橡木书柜，睡前故事从书页里跑出来，会被 LED 筒灯温柔接住。

The bathroom is a material laboratory: the Corian countertop fits perfectly with the oak cabinet, the micro-concrete wall feels like pebbles warmed by the sun, and the frameless glass shower room allows water vapor to flow freely. These details hide the designers thoughtfulness - knowing that tenants dont want to worry about cleaning, they use durable materials to build a worry-free defense line; knowing that urban people need to be alone, they use light, shadow and texture to create a corner where they can breathe deeply.

浴室是材质的实验室：可丽安台面与橡木柜体咬合得严丝合缝，微混凝土墙面摸起来像被晒暖的鹅卵石，无框玻璃淋浴房让水汽能自由流动。这些细节里藏着设计师的体贴 —— 知道租客不想为清洁费神，便用耐用材料筑一道 “省心防线”；明白都市人需要独处，就用光影和肌理搭一个能深呼吸的角落。

Climb up the stairs to the roof terrace. The black composite floor feels like walking on wet soil, and the edge of the cobblestones forms a small world. Looking out from here, the red roofs of Notting Hill are like undulating waves, and the solar panels above are silently collecting sunlight and storing it in batteries in the basement. When the lights are turned on on winter nights, the house will proudly announce: one-third of this warmth is a gift from the sun.

爬上楼梯来到屋顶露台，黑色复合地板踩着像踩在湿润的泥土上，鹅卵石边缘圈出一方小天地。从这里望出去，诺丁山的红屋顶像起伏的浪，而头顶的太阳能板正默默收集阳光，储存在地下室的电池里。冬夜开灯时，房子会骄傲地宣告：这温暖里，有三分之一是太阳的馈赠。

Heartwoods renovation is never a break with the past. It is like a craftsman who knows how to cherish, using the bricks and stones of the old house as writing paper, and writing new stories with steel, wood and glass. When tenants curl up on the oak window seats to watch the rain, when the sun shines through the stairs and weaves patterns on the floor, when the wind on the roof passes by the ears with the sound of distant bells - this house comes alive, using its heartwood to inject poetic warmth into the daily life of every resident.

Heartwood 的改造，从来不是与过去的决裂。它像位懂得珍惜的匠人，把老房子的砖石当信纸，用钢、木、玻璃写下新的故事。当租客在橡木窗座上蜷着看雨，当阳光穿过楼梯在地板上织出花纹，当屋顶的风带着远处的钟声掠过耳畔 —— 这座房子便活了过来，用它的 “心材”，为每个住客的日常注入诗意的温度。

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