Wildfowl Cottage

The property was in a serious state of dereliction. Unoccupied, the building had regularly flooded, the footings and ground floor were decayed and needed replacement, and the whole structure required rebuilding. In addition to major restoration a new room at ground-floor level high enough to remain above the flood waters.

The original building is a single room deep, and extensions over the years had evolved a distinctive long, thin form. The planners had been pressing for a ‘traditional’ lean-to extension, but it was felt that this would compromise the form of the building, and the clarity of its historical development.

The new room is formally separate from the original structure and provides a different scale of space to that available in the house with views across the fenland to the east. This tiny extension required two refused planning applications and two appeals, eventually gaining consent in 2008. By this time rescue work was under way on the main building, with client and builder collaborating on a skilled restoration.