Garden House
Ground floor remodel and rear extension in Selly Oak
Brief
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Our client had recently moved into a small new build house in Selly Oak with a compact kitchen-diner at the rear and a small, separate living room at the front. They were dissatisfied with the layout, particularly the lack of natural daylight and poor connection between the main living area and the garden.
Through our initial briefing consultation, we identified their key goals: creating a flexible open-plan layout with a larger living space, enhancing natural light, and improving the connection and flow through to the garden. They also wanted to incorporate a hobby room, either within the house or as a separate garden studio.
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As keen gardeners, they wanted to preserve a significant portion of their modestly sized garden and were unsure how or where to extend to create the extra space they needed without compromising the garden.
Design
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We started the design process by exploring various options to reconfigure the interior and integrate different extension sizes. This collaborative review approach allowed us to refine the design and identify the solution that worked best for them. The final approach focused on maximizing use of the existing space in order to minimize the extension size and preserve the garden.
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The main spaces on the ground floor were opened up, and the kitchen diner and living space functions flipped to reposition a more generous living space with large bi-fold doors opening onto the garden. To get the most out of the existing areas without cluttering the space, built-in storage and window seating were integrated throughout.
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Along with securing local planning consent and building regulations approval for the modifications and extension of the house, we also separately obtained a Lawful Development Certificate which allowed the client to install a garden studio room providing additional accommodation under permitted development. ​​
Studio
Kitchen
Living