SECRETS OF SUCCESS
right balance between being “visually stunning” but also practical for day-to-day family life.
Working within a tight budget meant
that coming up with a design that would give them the desired outcome was a somewhat challenging task. “We decided early on to minimise structural interventions,” says Space Group. To this end, the practice used the existing openings to set out where the new spaces would be. They extended to the rear at both ground and first floor levels, with the much larger addition to the ground floor extending further both width and lengthways. The extensions comprise what the architects describe as two “boxes,” clad in varying tones of grey fibre-cement boards. The two forms have been “carefully stacked on the rear elevation,” and are interrupted by “ribbons” of glass.
There is in fact a large amount of glass in the renovation, in the form of windows, doors and rooflights. Although it creates a very modern aesthetic, Rachel says they wanted to exploit the contrast with the Victorian property. “The house was a mixture of old and new anyway,” she says. “Many of the original features had been removed before we bought it, so the extension actually pulled it all together and created a more distinct identity.” Although the traditionally built property didn’t restrict things in terms of design, it did, Rachel explains, cause added stress to the build itself. “Essentially everything had to be done by hand,” she says, including the excavation needed to the rear and side to extend the ground floor. “The basement had to be dug out by hand, and all the materials came through the window. It was incredibly labour intensive.”
The build itself took nine months, with the whole process taking around a year from start to finish. They faced one minor hold up when the first piece of glass to arrive onsite cracked, meaning the door had to be remade but other than that things ran relatively smoothly.
THE FINAL PRODUCT
Despite having the keep structural amendments to a minimum, the architects managed to provide Rachel and Jason with everything on their wish list. They now have an extra bedroom, bathroom, a laundry room, and a spacious kitchen/ dining/living area – they even managed to include a built-in liquor cabinet in a corner at the back of the extension. The new living space at the back has also allowed them to knock the existing dining room through to link with the lounge.
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The dining table sits to one side of the new kitchen with a huge skylight over it, extending the width of the side extension. Rachel and Jason had been keen to allow as much daylight in as possible: “It’s a cliché, but the extension looks stunning, maximising the space and light,” she says. “It makes you feel good being in it.” They wanted to keep the interior design simple, and so a pale oak herringbone floor has been used throughout, while the bathrooms have been finished in a beige limestone. The kitchen island features a unique bronze-tinted mirrored finish, and they have incorporated various brass details throughout the otherwise minimalistic space.
A new separating wall had to be included on the ground floor in order to satisfy building control on fire safety. However, rather than let this hamper their plans for open-plan living, they made a feature of it and used it to house Jason’s vinyl collection. “It pleased us both!” Rachel says. They also included pivoted door panels that can be folded away in order to maintain the sense of openness.
The balance had to be struck between ‘visually stunning’ and practicality for day-to-day life
The couple had anticipated that undergoing the project would be a stressful time, but thanks to Martin’s help and his “relationship with the building team,” it was “much more stress free than we had imagined,” Rachel explains. They couldn’t be happier with the finished result – so much so that she says there’s nothing they would change. “We’re absolutely delighted. It has genuinely transformed how we live and improved our quality of life as a family.”
july/august 2019
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