Renovating
5 Clever Side Return Extension Tips
Contemplating extending your home sideways? Check out these creative ideas from designers on Houzz first
That often unloved skinny strip of land that runs alongside the back of your (typically) Victorian house holds epic amounts of potential. Just don’t view it only as a simple opportunity to make your kitchen a bit wider. It can do so much more – from boosting light to creating a courtyard and even an indoor/outdoor bar. Take a look at these projects for ideas.
On the kitchen side, the opening forms a corner bench seating area around a dining table, with views back into the house.
Explore the whole of this kitchen.
Explore the whole of this kitchen.
2. Bring the outside in
A benefit of not going for full-width, floor-to-ceiling glazing at the back of your house is that you can use the wall more creatively and, potentially, practically. Here, for instance, in a project by Pencil and Brick, the end of the side return has been turned into an outdoor bar.
The overall reworking of this conservation-area Victorian terrace incorporates a number of non-standard features – the arched brick portico is particularly striking – but also some particularly clever ideas within the side return itself.
More: What Happens When You Hire a Professional?
A benefit of not going for full-width, floor-to-ceiling glazing at the back of your house is that you can use the wall more creatively and, potentially, practically. Here, for instance, in a project by Pencil and Brick, the end of the side return has been turned into an outdoor bar.
The overall reworking of this conservation-area Victorian terrace incorporates a number of non-standard features – the arched brick portico is particularly striking – but also some particularly clever ideas within the side return itself.
More: What Happens When You Hire a Professional?
As you can see from the inside, the window has a wide sill on both sides. It functions a bit like an old-fashioned hatch in the kitchen wall, but looks more stylish.
The addition of bar stools makes it work as a spot for passing drinks or plates of food into the garden, as well as a sociable area where those preparing refreshments and those receiving them can pause, lean or perch for an inside-outside chat. It also works as a place to watch the garden through the window on cooler days.
“The [owners] wanted a house with character and asked us to come up with some ideas to make their home unique,” architect Seán McAlister says.
Take a tour of this house.
The addition of bar stools makes it work as a spot for passing drinks or plates of food into the garden, as well as a sociable area where those preparing refreshments and those receiving them can pause, lean or perch for an inside-outside chat. It also works as a place to watch the garden through the window on cooler days.
“The [owners] wanted a house with character and asked us to come up with some ideas to make their home unique,” architect Seán McAlister says.
Take a tour of this house.
3. Go halfway
Capitalising on the space your side return occupies doesn’t have to mean losing the entire area – you can have the best of both worlds.
“We didn’t extend the full length and instead stopped halfway to retain some of the courtyard,” architect Frederik Rissom of R2 Studio Architects says of this project.
The fully glazed side wall means the back room benefits from the outside space, which floods it with daylight and brings greenery up close. This made it the perfect location for the kitchen.
Capitalising on the space your side return occupies doesn’t have to mean losing the entire area – you can have the best of both worlds.
“We didn’t extend the full length and instead stopped halfway to retain some of the courtyard,” architect Frederik Rissom of R2 Studio Architects says of this project.
The fully glazed side wall means the back room benefits from the outside space, which floods it with daylight and brings greenery up close. This made it the perfect location for the kitchen.
In the truncated side extension, a dining area and bench seating fill the space. Frederik created a niche for the bench, making it a pleasant spot for sitting to read a book or do a bit of laptop work, too. He painted the back of the niche green to zone it and link it to the garden.
Above, skylights are punctuated by vertical panels, which act like louvres, reflecting light into the building’s central room behind where this picture was taken.
See more of this considered reconfiguration.
Above, skylights are punctuated by vertical panels, which act like louvres, reflecting light into the building’s central room behind where this picture was taken.
See more of this considered reconfiguration.
4. Warm up with texture
When you expand into the side return as part of a rear extension project, clever architectural consideration is required to ensure you’re not left with a vast, featureless space that lacks character. Mixing different textures will often be a key tool in achieving that.
Character was a high priority for the owners of this bright kitchen-diner when they hired Stephen Nash of All & Nxthing after seeing his work on Houzz.
“My clients share a love of Danish and industrial design and it was partly this sense of pared-back honesty that drew them to some of our previous projects,” Stephen says.
When you expand into the side return as part of a rear extension project, clever architectural consideration is required to ensure you’re not left with a vast, featureless space that lacks character. Mixing different textures will often be a key tool in achieving that.
Character was a high priority for the owners of this bright kitchen-diner when they hired Stephen Nash of All & Nxthing after seeing his work on Houzz.
“My clients share a love of Danish and industrial design and it was partly this sense of pared-back honesty that drew them to some of our previous projects,” Stephen says.
Stephen layered textures to add depth to the industrial style of the room, and the whitewashed brick wall of the side return is part of that.
Additionally, a prominent part of what makes the 8m long side extension feel welcoming is a series of natural oak braces. On a practical level, these support glazing, as well as covering the joins in the glass. But they also create a series of shallow shelves below, breaking up what could have been a blank wall and providing the opportunity to add yet more texture with display objects.
“It was important to create a contemporary and practical space that also felt warm and welcoming, and that incorporated some of the beautiful natural wood found in the living room,” Stephen says.
Explore the whole of this bright, welcoming kitchen.
Additionally, a prominent part of what makes the 8m long side extension feel welcoming is a series of natural oak braces. On a practical level, these support glazing, as well as covering the joins in the glass. But they also create a series of shallow shelves below, breaking up what could have been a blank wall and providing the opportunity to add yet more texture with display objects.
“It was important to create a contemporary and practical space that also felt warm and welcoming, and that incorporated some of the beautiful natural wood found in the living room,” Stephen says.
Explore the whole of this bright, welcoming kitchen.
5. Create a courtyard
This kitchen is part of a ground floor Victorian flat and that, in part, was the reason for creating the lovely courtyard you can just see on the far left of the photo.
“If we owned the whole house, we would have extended right across, but we only own the ground floor of the property and there are two bedrooms in the original part of the house,” architect and the home’s owner, Paulius Zakevicius of Flik Design, says. “The rear bedroom’s window would have been blocked if I hadn’t designed in this courtyard.”
This kitchen is part of a ground floor Victorian flat and that, in part, was the reason for creating the lovely courtyard you can just see on the far left of the photo.
“If we owned the whole house, we would have extended right across, but we only own the ground floor of the property and there are two bedrooms in the original part of the house,” architect and the home’s owner, Paulius Zakevicius of Flik Design, says. “The rear bedroom’s window would have been blocked if I hadn’t designed in this courtyard.”
And yet, out of necessity can often come beauty. Looking at the kitchen from this angle, the courtyard creates a perfect niche for the cabinets and, boosting the depth of field, gives a sense there’s more space than there is.
In addition, it provides a lovely vista of foliage and brickwork for anyone who’s cooking, and is handy for wafting out cooking smells and boosting fresh air in the space.
The glazing also lets in loads of light, both to the kitchen and to the bedroom in the flat’s central room, behind. Both of these are areas that can feel dark after extending, since they become more internal and further from the garden.
Tour the rest of this space.
Tell us…
Which is your favourite idea and why? Let us know in the Comments.
In addition, it provides a lovely vista of foliage and brickwork for anyone who’s cooking, and is handy for wafting out cooking smells and boosting fresh air in the space.
The glazing also lets in loads of light, both to the kitchen and to the bedroom in the flat’s central room, behind. Both of these are areas that can feel dark after extending, since they become more internal and further from the garden.
Tour the rest of this space.
Tell us…
Which is your favourite idea and why? Let us know in the Comments.
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One of the lovely details in this Victorian terrace side return extension, by Lizzie Fraher of Fraher & Findlay Architects, is the widened window between the middle room and the new kitchen-diner.
The opening is in the location where the original French doors that led into the old external side return were. Lizzie turned the opening into an unglazed internal window that’s wider than the original to bring more light into the middle of the house.
The green post on the left is a structural support, and the skylight glazing bars that run along the extension are painted in the same colour to tie the areas together and draw the eye towards the garden.
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