Project Location : Stoke Gifford, Bristol

With an expanding family coupled with the prohibitive expense of moving home, the homeowners decided they needed more space and would extend their current home.

The house was a 'link-detached'.. which meant their garage was attached to their neighbour.

The garage space was an ideal opportunity to gain additional living space... but what about the space above the garage? Since the house was linked, 'filling-in' the gap between themselves and their neighbour would not be viewed sympathetically by the local planning office.

however, if we 'detached' the house, then we would be able to build above the garage.... the planners agreed and gave consent in full.

Since the garage was stepped back from the front of the house, it would mean wasting the space in front.... hence the design brought the entire front of the 'garage' forward to maximise the available space.

As well as providing valuable space on the ground floor for a toilet/utility, family room and study, the first floor of the extension is now deeper than the existing house.

This allowed us to accommodate a large double bedroom, additional family bathroom and much needed build-in storage.

The landing at first floor was enlarged to give the feeling of space that the larger house now warranted.

In addition to the clearly apparent benefits of a larger home, it has become a truly detached house, with the added value this brings.

Although important to gain space with an extension, it is also important to maintain the external appearance of the house... or even better, improve the appearance.

With the feature gable over the extension and an additional, purely cosmetic, gable over the existing bedroom window, the end result is a very appealing and modern design for a home. With the finishing touch of The introduction of a bay window, matching other properties in the neighbourhood, you could easily be fooled into thinking it was built like that from new.

the homeowners needed additional living space for their children and visiting friends/family. They liked to entertain, and so needed a much larger dining room and kitchen.

The garage space needed to remain...so initial discussions centred around the space above the garage and space in the rear garden.

The conclusion was to extend above the garage... but not stopping there ! The extension would continue into the rear garden, providing additional space on the ground floor and the first floor.

While Retaining the garage, the garage/ground floor extension extends into the garden, presenting the issue of a space between this extension and the back of the house near the patio doors. This was addressed with a 'separate' ground-floor-only extension to square-off the back of the house.

the extension therefore extends across the entire width of the house. This allows more than enough floor-space to accommodate a utility room, large dining room to one end with open-plan space for a large additional sitting area... overlooking the garden through sliding patio doors. Above this additional sitting area are located four roof windows, proving a bright and open space, flooding light into the former dining room/kitchen.

A curved breakfast bar is created around the former external wall, creating a large, open and sociable space in which to entertain and enjoy.

The extension at first floor enables a large double room to the rear of the house, served by an ensuite with bath/shower, WC and basin. A single bedroom is located at the front of the extension.

The ground-floor-only extension can be seen with four roof windows, blending into the two-storey extension projecting into the rear garden.

Above the two-storey extension is an attractive gable roof, resulting in a pleasing elevation. It seemed the local planning office agreed also, giving consent to the development in its entirety.

Here you can see the extent of the additions to this home. The roof windows can be seen above the ground floor additional sitting area, with the gable above the first floor extension.

The front of the garage remained un-touched. minimising the impact on the front elevation.

The ground floor extension can be seen on the right-hand-side of this picture, with the two-storey extension behind it. From this angle, you can appreciate the amount of valuable space being added to the home.

This picture shows the view looking at the side of the garage, and the subsequent two-storey extension projecting into the garden to the left.

The roof of the garage has essentially risen to provide the bedroom space at first floor.

A door has been added to allow access to the rear garden, above which is a feature-course of bricks to blend the new extension seamlessly into the existing house.