Brief
Our clients were semi-retired downsizes who had sold their large family home in the Scottish Borders and purchased a smaller three bedroom property, large enough for their needs and family gatherings but much less of a burden in terms of maintenance and gardening. The house was in generally sound condition but the layout was awkward and cramped and required rationalisation to improve the quality and usefulness of the interior spaces and a new extension to create a modern heart of the home opening onto the generous rear garden. Conscious of their potential future health needs, the clients also wished to include for the option of living on one level with accessible living, bedroom, kitchen and sanitary accommodation to be included on the ground floor.
Proposals
The new extension draws the habitable space of the dwelling into the attractive garden as the culmination of the remodelled interior which links the front formal dining room and library through the central storage, sanitary and utility zone, with the new kitchen and informal dining dayroom. This creates a dual aspect space that receives daylight at both ends to better reveal the changes in the play of light attendant to the passage of the hours, days and months.
The simple cubic form of the extension is clad in pre-weathered silvery timber boards and animated by bold glazed cut outs.
In addition the clients wished to upgrade the sustainability of the property by replacing the outdated oil fired heating system with a new air source heat pump, together with various thermal upgrades to the building envelope that would be required, and by installing photovoltaic solar panels to the roof. Reconfiguration of the internal stair was required to eliminate a potential trip hazard and the first floor bathroom was dated and required renewal.
