Period House, Haslemere, Surrey

”… we’re finding, pretty much daily, we catch ourselves in the space doing something wonderfully mundane like cooking in the kitchen or reading books on the sofa in front of the wood-burner or having a meal round the table, and every time we do, we still can’t quite believe how incredibly lucky we have been and how successful your design is.”

- Rebecca and Jim, Haslemere

Period House

Extension and Alterations, Haslemere, Surrey

The brief, to reconfigure the existing ground floor in order to provide a contemporary open-plan family living space with an optimum southerly garden aspect. Given the setting of the property, privacy towards the neighbours was also a key concern for the owners.

The property is a detached two storey house from the inter-war period located in a suburban residential area of Haslemere where houses have typically been extensively remodelled and extended in an ad-hoc fashion. The front of the property forms part of a cohesive period street scene, yet the rear garden views are dominated by a patchwork of single storey extensions and styles. Apart from rear outbuildings, the property had remained largely unchanged over the years.

Our design provided a single storey rear and side extension in place of a previous rear extension and large shed, delivering a new open-plan, south facing kitchen, dining and living space. A clear distinction is maintained between the existing period building and the new extension, which is carried through in the choice of materials - natural vertical Cedar timber cladding - to complement the existing facing brick and render facades.

The vertical timber louvers are also used to modulate the views out, allowing views of the garden whilst minimising overlooking of the neighbouring gardens and vice versa, protecting the amenity of all  affected properties. The louvers also control any excessive solar gain from the full height glazing, whilst allowing unimpeded views out. The existing first floor accommodation now overlooks the new extension’s green roof.

This project was “Highly Commended” in the Alterations & Extensions category of the Waverley Design Awards 2019 with the judges commenting:

“… the charm of this development is in its simplicity and detailing - it is an aspirational and achievable development that should stand out as a role model for other extensions throughout Waverley.”