Extension Type

Totally renovate the existing house, extend to the side, rear and convert the attic. The house required planning permission and because of the complexity of the work the clients opted for Design Pack C.

The Existing House

The existing house was a typical 2 storey, 4 bedroom house with a garage to the side. The garage to the side was underutilised and used only for storage. The orientation of the house was such that the rear garden was north facing and the resulting light iinto the house was poor. The entrance into the house was bad and confined to a narrow corridor.

The Brief

Our client wanted to re-organize the layout on the ground floor. They wanted a new open plan kitchen, dining and family room. The garage to the side was to be removed and the entrance was to be improved. They needed an additional study, downstairs toilet, utility, and formal living room. They also wanted to convert the attic and renovate the existing bathroom. As they had a very good rear garden they wanted to improve the relationship of the house with the garden. As the existing house was very dark, improving the natural daylight was very important.

The Works

The main challenge for this house was to convert the attic. The existing house had a hipped roof, the high point of the attic space was in the centre of the floor plan and the existing stairs was in the front corner. It was decided to move the stairs into the centre of the house and replace the hipped roof with a gable end. This altered the entire shape of the house, on entry one was immediately introduced to a 3 storey high space with a wooden and steel stairs taking you to the roof space. We then added a 4 meter long window to the gable wall which flooded the heart of the house with natural day light. The garage was removed and replaced with an external space and a study room. To the rear we added the family room and glazed all the ground floor windows to allow light in and for the rooms to interact with the garden

The solution found was to split the residence into a one and a two storey structure and situate the one storey part adjacent to the existing bungalow, with the 2 storey part to the rear. We created a long dormer structure along the rear elevation in order to achieve necessary habitable space for the 3 first floor bedrooms. Downstairs, the plan was left mainly open with sliding partitions for privacy when required.

The resulting house is bright with many aspects onto the front, side courtyard and rear garden. With an external material palette of white painted render, cedar panelling, charcoal window, galvanized gutters and both slate and zinc roofs, the house has an individual but modern feel both inside and out.