Learmonth Place, Edinburgh

Brief

Our clients wished to reconfigure the ground floor of their three storey sandstone townhouse in Edinburgh to create an open plan kitchen, dining and living area with better access to the garden than the existing route via a rear utility block.

The design of the new extension also required to subtly accommodate a 750mm transition in levels between the ground floor of the main house and the rear garden ground without over-cluttering the space with stairs, landings & balustrades.

The practicalities of family life meant that some provision for separating the new extension from the main house would be required whilst optimising daylighting and views to the garden.

Proposals

The extension is conceived as a crisp, rectilinear volume occupying the space between the existing two-storey stone utility block at the rear of the property and the neighbouring building. A continuous glazed rooflight separates the new form from the townhouse, allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the plan and creating a striking interplay of solid and void.

Facing the garden, the extension is framed by bronze-coloured metal cladding. A refined “picture frame” that encloses the primary structure, glazed doors, and cast-concrete steps.

A subtle change in level between the main house and garden is resolved by dividing the necessary rise into two shallow flights, each under 600mm and therefore free of mandatory balustrades or handrails. With the extension floor set midway between the two levels, only three steps are required to reach the dining area, while a short run at the garden threshold provides direct access through the glazed openings.

The original dining room windows have been enlarged to strengthen the visual and spatial connection with the new extension, drawing in as much daylight as possible from the rooflights beyond. Oak linings introduce warmth and clearly articulate the threshold between historic fabric and contemporary intervention, while inside, the exposed stone of the townhouse walls blends seamlessly with these oak details and the new oak stair to create a cohesive and tactile interior palette.