Connected House​​​
Side extension and ground floor remodelling of a 1930's semi-detached house in Harborne
Brief
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The client had purchased a 1930’s four-bedroomed house that had been extended unsympathetically. They expressed the need for a kitchen dining area that would give them a sociable space to entertain.
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We worked closely with the client to develop their initial ideas, and also challenged them to look at the house as a whole. Although well-proportioned in areas, the house had a level of imbalance with one bathroom to four bedrooms as well as a small kitchen. The client had also recently started working from home and although an office hadn’t been in their original brief it quickly became an essential requirement.
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As the client didn’t want to extend beyond the existing footprint, we worked with them exploring options on how everything could be incorporated into the available area without feeling compromised. Part of the process was to evaluate other underused internal spaces and look at whether they could be incorporated into the scheme.
Design
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The design gave the client a new larger kitchen and dining space, achieved by demolishing the old lean-to and knocking through. It was designed as a light and flexible social space orientated around a central cooking area, but with large bi-fold doors and window that can be slid open to create a direct connection with the garden.
Additionally, the retained area of garage was upgraded to meet current regulations and sub-divided into a laundry and shower room (both with access from the kitchen), and home office (with a new access from the hall).
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Connected Space
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A key aspect of the design was to create a kitchen and dining space that feels connected both within the house, and with the garden. So rather than cooking facing a wall, the hob is placed centre stage facing the dining table within a wider counter surface with bar stools around. Further connections are made to the garden through large glazed bi-fold doors and windows allowing the whole space to opened up and link to the garden.
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What our client said...
James, Connected House
We never felt that anything was too much trouble and Tom tweaked our plans many times as we explored options and scenarios until we were happy with the final layout. In fact, Tom helped us to see beyond our initial brief and in doing so we achieved so much more than we set out to do.
Tom is very patient and creative. He has a lot of ideas and took the time to understand us as a family, how we used the house and how we might use the space in the future.
We wouldn’t hesitate to use Tom again ourselves and have recommended him to friends already.