Poets Corner
Sympathetic extensions and alterations modernised an existing Victorian terraced house, set within the Bath Conservation Area and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bath, 2016
This polite extension transformed an existing Victorian terrace property, set within the Bath Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. Considered extensions and alterations allowed the new owners to modernise the property and turn it into a home with more usable living space where family and friends can stay in comfort.
The rear extension replaces a previous unsightly lean-to and extends the ground floor to provide a new, enlarged Kitchen and living area with views through to the garden. The design allows a more coherent and usable living space arrayed around the Kitchen; this enlarged living space grants a focal point for the whole of the ground floor, as well as providing more usable internal space.
Site-won Bath stone was reclaimed and reused from the demolished structures and helped keep the overall appearance unobtrusive. Combined with simple, clean detail ling, the extension was subtly distinguished as a contemporary addition reference the materiality of the original house.
Inside, an abutment rooflight directs daylight above Kitchen and Dining areas, and allowing borrowed light back into the original house. Fixed furniture maximises space and use, allowing a dedicated bench seat around the dining table.
Fully-glazed slimline aluminium folding doors allow views through to the garden and the interior extends outside. The design works with external changes in level, allowing views through into the kitchen and garden from the rest of the ground floor, as well as creating a stronger relationship between the house, workshop and garden.
The scheme has been designed to allow a seamless transition through the house between internal living space and external patio space, which was modestly landscaped to reconcile the existing level changes and render the space more usable. The garden connection is further continued by a raised timber sleeper planter, which incorporates the change in levels and beds the new addition into its setting.