Projects

The brief

With a growing family, the clients wanted to have an open-plan kitchen, living and dining room with good access to the rear garden. They also wanted to make a quiet snug at the front of the house.

The property

The property is a 1930s semi-detached house on the west side of Graham Avenue in Brighton consisting of a hallway, through lounge, downstairs WC and kitchen in the main part of the ground floor of the house. To the rear of the kitchen was a brick single-skin out-house, which opened into an old glazed timber conservatory with doors and steps into the garden.The out-house and the timber conservatory were in a very poor condition, they were of little use to the clients and neither added anything to the aesthetic quality of the property.

The solution

The aim of the design was to build a modern looking extension that was complementary to the existing house but that had some character of its own. The solution was to remove the out-house and the conservatory, replace them with a single storey rear extension across the back of the house and remove the rear structural wall between the extension and house.
The extension used the length of the neighbouring extension as the limit for its depth, taking the extension across the back of the property, whilst allowing for access for construction and maintenance on the party wall side. The extension was designed with a dual pitched roof, it is a more attractive architectural feature, it worked well with the existing first-floor windows and the internal space is open to the roof lines creating a feeling of space and height.
The decking to the rear of the extension accommodates the change in ground levels at the rear of the house and creates an indoor/outdoor space adjacent to the bi-folding doors with steps down to the garden. On the party wall side, a privacy screen ensures the proposals do not impact upon the neighbouring property.

The result

The useless conservatory and utility room are gone and replaced with a great family room where the clients spent almost all of their time. The walk from the tired old galley kitchen through two doors to the dining room is now in the past and the cooking, dining and living experience is shared by all the family in the same room. The bi-folding doors open on to the patio, and the large areas of glazing and the glazed balustrades allow light in and enable a clear view from the extension to all parts of the garden.

“We are delighted with how our extension has transformed the way we use our home, allowing us all to share a contemporary space that suits our lifestyle. Martin was extremely helpful at all stages of the process, providing timely and insightful assistance.”

LT, Brighton