House
Renovation

From a dark 1960s layout to a bright, south-facing family home with a living space that actually connects to the garden. Before: this house had the usual mid-century problems, cramped rooms, poor insulation and a layout that made everyday family life feel harder than it needed to be. The clients (a professional couple with two young children) didn’t just want “nicer finishes”; they wanted the house to work properly, with a clear link between inside and outside so the garden wasn’t something you only saw through a window. Solution: we stripped it back and re-planned the ground floor to open up the kitchen/dining/living arrangement, then added a modern, south-facing sun room that becomes the new centre of gravity. The vaulted ceiling over the open-plan space gives it volume (without extending for the sake of it), while a roof lantern pulls daylight deep into the plan - so even on grey days it still reads bright and calm. Externally, the new element is wrapped in Cedral cladding, giving the extension its own identity without shouting over the original house. This wasn’t a “drawings only” job either. The clients asked us to administer the building contract, which mattered because the project had real-world friction: tree preservation constraints on site, a leak discovered under the hall floor, and contractor performance issues that ultimately required adjudication. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the bit that protects budgets and keeps decisions grounded in the contract rather than emotions. The outcome: a modernised family home, renewed services (new electrics and plumbing throughout) and living spaces that feel generous and functional within the existing structure. After: the clients got what they came for - a home that’s lighter, more open and finally feels connected to the patio and outdoor space, with the sun room doing the heavy lifting as a genuinely usable everyday room.