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Room of the Week: A Multitasking Extension to Suit Busy Family Life
Flooded with light and filled with clever design details, this open-plan space at the rear of a south London home is now a busy hub
A tried and trusted method for extending a narrow kitchen is to make use of the side return, but when James Bernard of Plus Rooms was asked to turn a cramped galley kitchen in a south London terrace into a multifunctional area, he had more ambitious plans. ‘We wanted to create a wraparound extension, out to the side and off at the rear, linking to the back wall,’ he says. ‘We have created this kind of extension in nearby streets, but here, the plans were refused on appeal by Lambeth council.’
Luckily, necessity is the mother of invention and, in James’s case, creativity, too. Immediately, he got to work creating alternative designs for a multitasking room for the young family living here. ‘I was trying to get the most from the space we were allowed,’ he says. The solution was pushing into the side return to create a spacious kitchen and dining area and then extending off the back by 3m to make a living room, with doors onto the garden. ‘I wanted the space to work beautifully for the owners, and also to bring in lots of light for a clean, modern, bright family hub.’
Room at a Glance
Who lives here A couple with two young children
Property A terraced house built about 120 years ago
Size 4.8m x 8.9m at the widest and longest points
Location South London
Designer James Bernard of Plus Rooms
Luckily, necessity is the mother of invention and, in James’s case, creativity, too. Immediately, he got to work creating alternative designs for a multitasking room for the young family living here. ‘I was trying to get the most from the space we were allowed,’ he says. The solution was pushing into the side return to create a spacious kitchen and dining area and then extending off the back by 3m to make a living room, with doors onto the garden. ‘I wanted the space to work beautifully for the owners, and also to bring in lots of light for a clean, modern, bright family hub.’
Room at a Glance
Who lives here A couple with two young children
Property A terraced house built about 120 years ago
Size 4.8m x 8.9m at the widest and longest points
Location South London
Designer James Bernard of Plus Rooms
Local planners would not give permission to create a full wraparound extension, so the side return extension simply extends as far as the original rear wall. Gorgeous glazing turns what might otherwise have been a blank wall into a dramatic feature, offering long views of the garden and boosting light levels.
Transforming the rear of this Victorian terraced house took eight weeks of building work. ‘But we spent five months before that getting permissions and plans drawn up,’ explains James. Decorating took a fortnight and installing the kitchen took a further two weeks. The project was completed in 2013.
The living room is part of the 3m by 3m extension at the back, constructed under permitted development. It’s now a relaxed space in which to watch TV, and in summer, the owners’ two young children can spill out into the garden from here.
Terra floor tiles in Ash (80cm x 40cm), World’s End Tiles.
Terra floor tiles in Ash (80cm x 40cm), World’s End Tiles.
The kitchen units are a white, high-gloss laminate made in Germany. They bring a contemporary and sleek feel to this extension and keep it looking light and open. The worktop is cool quartz.
Kitchen, Konig Kitchens.
Read expert advice on choosing the perfect worktop
Kitchen, Konig Kitchens.
Read expert advice on choosing the perfect worktop
Two internally frameless skylights and an inverted corner triangle window punctuate the roof of the extension, plus there’s an internal window on the back wall. ‘We wanted to project light into the rear reception room through here,’ explains James.
The wall containing the fridge-freezer, wine fridge and microwave has been created from reproduction oak with a matt finish, as a warm contrast to the high-gloss units on the facing wall.
The wall containing the fridge-freezer, wine fridge and microwave has been created from reproduction oak with a matt finish, as a warm contrast to the high-gloss units on the facing wall.
‘People sometimes try to retain two openings into an extended kitchen – the hall door and one from the rear living space,’ says James. ‘The problem with that is that the living room becomes a bit of a glorified hallway. Here, it made more sense from a space and flexibility point of view to block off the door from the rear living room, retaining the fanlight, but giving all the space back to the kitchen.’
To break up the sleek white units and inject a splash of bright colour into this family space, the owner sourced a tinted glass splashback in a fresh green.
Oven and hob, Siemens.
Oven and hob, Siemens.
Where the side return extension meets the back wall, James designed an internally frameless floor-to-ceiling glass panel. ‘It continues the kitchen area out, because you can see right through to the garden, and produces an illusion of space,’ he says.
A patio flows seamlessly off the living room. ‘When you install folding doors, the terrace outside should be flush to the internal floor, so it acts as an extension of it,’ says James. ‘It’s about inside and outside becoming one space, so it’s important to avoid any obstacles on the threshold between the two.’
Learn more about folding doors
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What do you like about this bright extension? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
A patio flows seamlessly off the living room. ‘When you install folding doors, the terrace outside should be flush to the internal floor, so it acts as an extension of it,’ says James. ‘It’s about inside and outside becoming one space, so it’s important to avoid any obstacles on the threshold between the two.’
Learn more about folding doors
TELL US…
What do you like about this bright extension? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
DSW chairs, Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra.