We’re working on a new build seven bedroom English country house for a young family in South Buckinghamshire. The client has adopted a renewable energy strategy for the house, swimming pool and car garage. To the rear ground source heating, solar PV and solar thermal provision are integrated into the house design and garden. It is traditional in every detail but modern in outlook.
We’ve moved into a new loft style penthouse office in Bermondsey. With all sorts of exciting opportunities to look forward to we share our space with interior designer Callender Howorth. The former tannery is going through an extensive but sensitive refurbishment. The exposed beam ceiling and timber floors remain, as do the steel framed windows but it’s a very considered redevelopment.
A new infill extension to a townhouse in Tufnell Park, Islington takes a sneaky peek over the parapet wall to catch the setting sun. The extension is set within a fine mature garden. The new kitchen has been relocated to frame views of the garden. To the West the sun setting is framed with a high level skylight which catches the warm setting sun.
A traditional Grange and barn in Yorkshire has been neglected for many years. The new owners are very excited by their find; an extensive refurbishment will be necessary. Its location and off grid status makes a sustainable heat strategy the most viable solution for the future. Set within remote farmland it will provide ground source heat as the most cost effective solution for a self-sufficiency. The house has some wonderful features with exposed timber beams, a stone tiled roof and half a metre thick solid walls all to be retained as original. The character of the house will be complimented by a full house refurbishment and insulating the property is a priority. The barn will be used by the boys as a bunk room and will function away from the house.
forresterarchitects are nearing the end of the complete rebuilding of a semi-detached house in Hornchurch, Essex. An alternative design to a new dormer conversion complete with 6m extension and house refurbishment in the heart of Essex. The house has been planned around a new stairwell which has been repositioned to serve a new floor added to the top of the house. Every room has been reconfigured and the floor plan is now much more efficient. The energy efficiency of the house has been improved with new double glazed units replacing all single glazed windows. At 6m deep, a larger than normal extension has also been granted planning permission to the rear and provides an open plan arrangement.
It’s rare you find a cottage in your garden but my clients have that on purchasing their house in Highgate. That said it has remained under utilised over the years. It is now time for some upgrading and the cottage is to be enlivened to provide stand alone accommodation for the in-laws. When not used by guests it will have a certain amount of flexibility to provide a study area for the client’s daughters and their friends. In the evening it will be used as a party venue following dinner parties or where they can watch a film. The provision of a sliding partition wall will allow the cottage to be subdivided into dedicated areas to provide privacy. The mezzanine will be orientated to run the length of the cottage. It will remain as a visual connection to the ground floor and provide a dedicated study area with extra bedroom space. To assist in the flexibility of space clever joinery will be incorporated to conceal the bed when not in use.
A new outrigger extension is required to replace the original kitchen extension. A new form is explored to avoid the typical full-width extension. A series of angled facets is explored and developed further to define an original form for the new kitchen extension. The facets provide a notional subdivision of the kitchen and define the preparation, washing and breakfast areas. The aim is to respond to and respect its sensitive garden setting in terms of material, language, form and construction. The inclined form rises to the garden to provide a natural shading device from the sun. It drops to the rear against the neighbouring adjacent extension.
Currently configured as a two bedroom with a fine South facing aspect. The internal layout to a Dartmouth Park maisonette is to completely reconfigured. The main living rooms are moved to the rear with the creation of an open plan double-height space which opens onto the rear garden. Two extra bedrooms are relocated to the rear of the property other bedrooms. The new maisonette with better connectivity with the garden now feels more like a new house.