A Newnham rear extension

The brief was to open the back of a tight Victorian semi onto a long garden without losing the room hierarchy of the original house. We took down the rear half of the kitchen, added a 42m² single-storey extension with a London stock brick spine wall that ties new to old, and dropped the floor 200mm to gain ceiling height.

The glazing runs the full width of the rear elevation in two Crittall steel frames, with a polished concrete floor that absorbs sun in the morning and stays warm into the evening. The original chimney was retained and exposed, brick on three sides.

Twelve weeks on site with one project manager, our directly employed trades, and a tight programme that took the kitchen out of action for six weeks rather than twelve.