The original house on this site was built in the 1970s, and is a detached house on a cul-de-sac within a market town. The clients purchased the house with significant changes in mind, to upgrade the fabric and building as a whole while also addressing aesthetics externally, both from the street frontage as well as the rear.
A single-storey rear extension wall was added as part of the overall envelope upgrades, to allow for an enlarged open-plan kitchen/dining living area with flexibility for a growing family with ancillary spaces (pantry, WC, boot room/utility). The garage was converted to allow for a guest room/annex, which could also function as an office/gym when not being used for guests and be separable from the main house. Particular thought was given to the new extension so as to make the most of the site orientation for passive solar gains in winter while controlling summer temperatures.
Given the width of the site the roof form of the extension was critical to resolve this, as a large flat roofed addition would not have respected the original form of the house, and the asymmetry of the final design reflects internal spaces’ relationship to the host building while minimising alterations to first floor window positions where possible and allowing for daylight and control of solar gain.
A new porch area and alteration at the front allow for a better presentation of the house from the street, as this had been dominated by a large garage door and had the front door tucked out of sight, entering into a tight and dark corridor. The works here create a spacious entrance hallway with visual connection through the centre of the house to the garden on entry, plus ancillary spaces such as WC and boot room easily accessed from the central circulation.
Works have been designed so as to allow for phasing in terms of delivery but with all phases covered in a single planing application, which included application to highways to make alterations to the access and at the time of photography of this project the first floor works were not yet complete. The front dormer will be altered to tie this in aesthetically with the rest of the envelope and thermally upgraded as part of an overhaul of the master suite and further internal alterations to bedrooms and bathrooms.