01
The brief
A young family had lived in the house for six years. The kitchen sat in a narrow galley at the back, cut off from the garden by a small conservatory that was too hot in summer and too cold in winter. They wanted light, an open kitchen and dining space, and a garden you could step straight into from the house.
The challenge: a Victorian mid-terrace with a side return barely wide enough to walk through, and a neighbouring property with a both a first-floor window and a small rear extension of its own.
02
The design
We removed the rear wall entirely and replaced it with a structural steel frame, allowing a full-width opening to the garden. The extension runs 5.8 metres to the rear and wraps 1.2 metres into the side return — enough to bring the kitchen into a single open room without over-shading the neighbours.
A flush threshold, exposed reclaimed brick, and a run of sliding glass across the entire rear elevation turn the room and garden into one continuous space. The floor continues outside as a pale grey porcelain patio, reinforcing the connection.
- Structural steel frame · RSJ rear wall
- Sliding glass · 3-panel aluminium system
- Reclaimed London stock brick · matching existing
- Underfloor heating · throughout
03
The build
Planning went through in the statutory 8 weeks with no pre-app required. We coordinated building regulations directly with the council's approved inspector, ran structural calculations in-house with our consulting engineer, and acted as Principal Designer under CDM 2015.
The family stayed in the house throughout the build. We phased the work so the temporary kitchen remained functional for the first four months, and staged deliveries to keep the street clear. The work was finished on schedule and inside the original fixed-fee proposal.
04
The result
The rear of the house is now a single, light-filled room that opens directly onto the garden. The kitchen was moved from the galley to a new island position, giving the family somewhere to cook, eat and gather without moving between rooms.
Two years on, the room is used every day. The client's words: "The planning application went through first time — and the finished extension is the room we spend every evening in."
