Projects

The brief

Take advantage of the enormous development potential offered by the property’s loft and the basement, converting the latter into a separate two-bedroom flat with an enclosed private patio to the rear and the loft into additional living accommodation.

The property

The house was a 1930s semi-detached house in a conservation area. It is subject to an Article 4 Direction and the proposed work required detailed liaison with the council’s planning department.

The unused loft space was one of the largest I have ever seen in a normal house and would have lent itself to conversion to a small flat on its own. The basement covered the rear three quarters of the house’s floor plan, with an old garage taking up much of the usable space.

The solution

Extend the basement flat to the rear, creating a new kitchen and living room for the flat and a new balcony for the house above (accessed from the rear ground floor) with steps down to the garden.

Conservation-style roof lights and windows were the only allowable visible alteration to the front. To the rear, the planners were happy with proposals that copied similar examples in the street of the rear dormers and the rear basement extension.

The result

In the basement, the conversion and rear extension create a two-bed flat with bi-folding doors to the rear patio, with a light-well providing light and ventilation to the front bedroom.

The new stairs to the loft rooms follow the line and detailed design of the existing and they flow up to the second-floor landing. The new landing gives access to the spacious bedroom with its large relaxing space, an en-suite bath and shower room and an office.