PLAIN AND SIMPLE

Practicality was paramount for Charlotte and Leigh Bowen, but they still managed to combine clean looks with good design

After buying an unremarkable seaside Sixties bungalow on the West Sussex coast that was in need of serious TLC, Charlotte and Leigh Bowen were confident they could turn it into a coastal home packed with style. ‘We wanted a home here as it’s a special place to us,’ says Charlotte, a design consultant who works with husband Leigh, an eco architect, at their practice, 50 Degrees North. The couple may have had a head start in terms of design skills, but they still needed to do plenty of research, and find the right team to create a home for themselves and their children, Phoebe,15, Nesta,12, and Felix,10. ‘We didn’t have a fortune to spend doing it up, but we wanted to do it properly so we didn’t rush anything.’ After buying the property in November 2015, knowing they were going to extend into the roof space to provide two extra bedrooms as well as two more bathrooms, they went through a year of planning and building before moving in almost three years ago. Throughout the house every little detail has been carefully thought out. ‘The eco credentials of a property are very important to us, and we’ve clad the exterior in Siberian larch, which will weather well, and the roof and windows are zinc,’ explains Charlotte. ‘We’ve totally insulated the house, plus put down underfloor heating everywhere so it’s as energy efficient as possible.’ Uncomplicated design is at the core of the couple’s plans.Where possible, they have gone for ultra-simple surfaces. ‘We wanted wooden floors everywhere and