Two-Storey Side Extension and Courtyard Infill

The brief for this project was to enlarge the first floor to create an additional bathroom or ensuite and ideally create a fifth bedroom, balancing the size of the first floor with the existing ground floor accommodation. At ground floor, additional boot room/laundry space was required. Alongside the spatial needs, the brief included potential to connect to a previously converted outbuilding which was separated from the house by an external courtyard area.

AC Architects designed a two-storey side extension to partially infill the courtyard, linking the existing house to the outbuilding, and a rear first floor extension, building over the top of the existing dining room.

The new side extension forms a new kitchen at ground floor level and provides a link through to the previously converted outbuilding. The improved kitchen space is better-linked to the dining and living area as well as the garden, with bi-fold doors opening out onto a patio area.

The former kitchen in the existing house has been divided to form a ground floor shower room with adjacent spare room for guests and/or home office. This allowed for the existing downstairs toilet to be removed from the utility room, so it could be opened to form a larger laundry and boot room.

At first floor, extending both to the side and rear creates a new grand master bedroom with en-suite and dressing space, as well as a generous fifth bedroom, replacing the small fourth box room.

The external materials used include flint to the ground floor extension which is traditional and local to the area, and zinc to the first floor which provides a modern striking contrast, with mono-pitch roof to the master bedroom. Horizontal seams of zinc were used to tie in with the horizontal band of windows.

To the rear, the new first floor bedroom over the dining room was faced in render to tie in with the existing house.

Solar panels were salvaged and refitted to maintain their operation. The existing solid fuel Rayburn was relocated and continues to provide back up for hot water.

Overall, the result was a generous five-bedroom house with an ensuite and bathroom, with increased ground floor living space linked through to the converted outbuilding, considerably increasing the overall house size and improving the flow through the plan.