Brick Lintel House

Up and down the country this is a well-established layout – a modest two up, two down with a galley kitchen and a draughty conservatory. Just enough space to squeeze a car onto the drive, but not enough space for a 21st century family internally or externally.

The convention is to move up the property ladder but this family chose to invest in what they already had and instead renovate and extend the house to suit their needs. Materially and spatially, it is a contemporary addition fit for modern family life.

The layout of rooms to the existing house is largely retained, with the ground floor corner taken out to open up generously to a new full width rear garden extension. This is the new heart of the house as a kitchen/dining space. An asymmetric roof form to the extension allowed for a new home office within the eaves of the new extension whilst leaving a part double height space over the new kitchen island. Views down into this space from the upstairs landing is now a favourite with the children checking what’s for dinner. The asymmetric roof also satisfies the planners’ desire for any new addition being volumetrically subservient and set back from the front.

Externally, the extension is finished to a combination of vertical larch battens and a clay brick, both materials chosen to emulate the predominant local buff stone whilst remaining distinctively new. To the rear a deep overhang creates a sheltering canopy to the south facing elevation with the larch clad soffit extending internally to create an interior rich in warm colours, blended with a brick backdrop wall and brass details.