Recording studio building increases value almost tenfold through conversion

A recording studio in Fulham, bought for £200,000, has been transformed into two flats worth nearly £2m.

Kate Koumi turned the brick industrial unit, which she purchased as a sound recording studio in 1995, into two flexible and stylish warehouse apartments, which can be converted into one home when needed.

Not wanting to be in the music game at the age of 70, Koumi, a 59-year-old sound engineer, decided to take the plunge. Aided by a change in the law that gave her three years to convert their commercial premises into a residential home, she and husband Jamie Lane got stuck in on the project in 2013.

Koumi drew the plans for her home herself, hiring an engineer for some of the more structural parts of the design. The couple planned to gut both floors of the property and sandblast the walls so that they would be exposed. They also intended to paint the property’s concrete flooring, for a modern, industrial look.

However, when their daughter expressed her sorrow at vacating the family house, the pair decided to create two properties that could later be converted into one. This meant that they had to use top quality fixtures and fittings, even choosing ‘car-showroom durable’ grey paint on the concrete flooring, as well as installing new floor-to-ceiling windows, ripping out the staircase and replacing it with a centrally located one, and furnishing the building with industrial lamps and leather sofas.

Their efforts paid off and their flats are valued at £899,000 and £980,000