Words Kate Jacobs
Photography Peter Molloy
Director Gene Limbrick
Producer David Potter
Camera operators Gene Limbrick, David Potter, Cem Hizli

Zac and Hilary's home has been thoughtfully designed by architects Pensaer, where the striking stainless steel kitchen is one of many covetable features. “One of the main aesthetic appeals of stainless for me is how much it’s a ‘live’ material that wears and patinas over time. It makes a space feel used and lived in,” says Zac. As part of the tour, the couple gesture to the pair of cupboards that flank the Wolf kitchen range, with its chunky red knobs. When closed, these two cabinets become invisible, blending in with the already patinated sheen of the kitchen; open – via pocket doors – they reveal all the chef’s essentials, carefully labelled containers of herbs and spices to one side of the hob, an impressive array of chef’s knives and other tools of the trade on the other.

These cupboards represent the meeting point between Zac and Hilary’s individual approaches. For pragmatic Zac, function and utility come first, while for Hilary, aesthetics and atmosphere are just as important. Here and throughout the house, they’ve succeeded in finding the perfect middle ground between warm and cool, industrial and domestic, creating a home that is as satisfyingly beautiful as it is readily useful.

This well-balanced couple met – in a restaurant, naturally – nine years ago, on the day Zac moved from his native Sydney to London. Hilary, working front of house, was then a general manager, going on to work at Bao for many years. She’s just started a new role as operations director for Island Poké at hospitality incubator White Rabbit Projects. “I love being front of house, bringing people together,” says Hilary. Zac was sous-chef under Tomos Parry at the fêted Brat, for four years, and is now head of kitchens for the much-loved Stanley Pubs group.

“These are the local pubs that Hilary and I have loved going to, and now I’m working for them, putting together teams and devising new menus. I fell in love with Hilary and London at the same time. For me, it’s the best food city in the world and this pocket of London – between Newington Green, Dalston and Stoke Newington is, for us, the best area,” says Zac. “We can have a big night out in Dalston and, next day, a posh brunch on Church Street,” says Hilary.

Landing here was no happy accident though, their target area was painstakingly researched and triangulated by Hilary who, with the arrival of Covid, found herself suddenly furloughed, and keen to expand beyond their rental apartment in the Canal Building on Shepherdess Walk: “We had been on the brink of buying but had to pause, which gave me the chance to view lots of properties,” says Hilary. Finally, the couple found this place, which was then a fairly standard Victorian terrace with great proportions and big bay windows, but with a damp, cramped basement and lack of original features. It was an irresistible mix for a couple keen to make their mark.

They lived here for a year before setting to work. “We learned a lot about how the light moves around the house. I really liked the stepped half levels between the front and back of the house, it gave us scope to do something creative in terms of the volumes of each space,” says Hilary. Architects Pensaer shared the couple’s excitement about the possibilities for scale and volume here, and grasped their abiding love of cooking and hosting.

“We talked to a few architects but felt that Pensaer really understood us, our desire for craftsmanship and high-quality, handmade elements,” says Zac. “Also, Rhys (Owen) had a really cute dog,” adds Hilary with a smile. “Luiz (Fernando Vidal), injected lots of life into the project too, especially when we were flagging with decision fatigue,” she adds. “Luiz is Brazilian so he was on board with how open we wanted it to be, with no barriers at all to connections throughout the house,” says Hilary.

On the ground floor, the hallway and two living rooms have been completely opened up to create one generous space which, in turn, opens onto the kitchen, a half level down. This room has been pushed out to the side and rear, and thoroughly illuminated by an ‘origami’ arrangement of triangles of oak-framed glass that cannily reconcile the couple’s desire for soaring volumes, with the need to stick to tedious party wall requirements.

These triangular forms reverberate visually throughout the house, while the kitchen’s layout is determined by the stainless steel-wrapped central island, a practical rectangle on one side, from which Zac can run the kitchen, that breaks out into an expansive semi-circle where guests can easily talk to one another without having to lean back and peer down the line, bar counter-style. “The whole kitchen has been designed to fan out from the spot between the range and the island, so that I can cook and chat to Hilary or our friends. It’s so much better than being stuck away from our everyone.”

The garden, too, has been designed as an extension of the kitchen, en plein air. The extension is enveloped in tightly corrugated stainless steel, linking inside and out, with flowing freeform seating and countertops wrapped in micro-cement. The outdoor kitchen features a Fired Made grill and pale blue pizza oven. “The colour is a nod to The River Café’s pink version, although it’s slightly reductive to even call it a pizza oven, as that’s the least of what we do with it. I cooked our entire Christmas lunch in it. Kiln-dried British oak brings an unparalleled flavour to even the simplest and most humble ingredients,” says Zac, for whom wood-fired cooking has been a career constant, from his days at Neil Perry’s Rockpool in Sydney.

Interior designer Jill Macnair came on board to work on the interiors, helping Hilary to navigate the house’s joyful colour palette so that it was bold without becoming overwhelming, including rust red-painted beams and a sunny Canola yellow in the kitchen. Jill and Hilary were inspired by Charlotte Perriand’s use of colour-blocking, while the handles used on cupboards and wardrobes throughout the space were also inspired by the French architect and designer’s work.

Downstairs, the basement – once only fit for storage – now features a snug TV area with low slung Togo sofa and tactile rugs. Beyond that, there’s an inviting, red-ceilinged guest suite, capable of accommodating the couple’s many long-stay guests, including Zac’s family from Sydney. Pensaer made the whole space work with the insertion of a central sapele wood box that slots into the heart of the space creating a TV wall (complete with hidden tequila cabinet) on one side, a headboard for the stainless steel bed on the other and, in between, a cosy mustard yellow-tiled bathroom and valuable storage.

Heading upstairs, a completely redesigned staircase allows light into the heart of the house from a skylight above, while taking the bare minimum of space away from the surrounding rooms. The first of these is the indulgent bathroom, completely drenched in vivid blue. Beyond that, is the couple’s own suite, with a tranquil bedroom that opens into the brick-lined former loft space above, for added gravitas, with an en-suite that features a cocooning micro-cement shower and a statement slab of red Mexican onyx for the basin, somehow reminiscent of beautifully marbled beef. Add to this, his and hers studies, with Hilary’s at the top of the house, looking out over Victorian rooftops to the spire of the nearby church, and wrapped in Douglas fir panelling, which hides a secret fold-down bed – ready to accommodate more lucky guests. Hospitality is never far from this couple’s thoughts.