West Berkshire

The replanning, recladding and refurbishment of a 1990s house to create a modern family home for a growing family

The house had everything a big family could want on paper, with six bedrooms and three reception rooms, but the rooms were small and dark, the connections between them were awkward, and a triple garage with a snooker room above it sat at one end doing very little.

The brief was to rework the house without extending it. Everything needed was already inside the footprint, so the work was to find it rather than add to it.

The garage and snooker room came first. The garage needed more head height, so we raised the ceiling while turning the snooker room above into three bedrooms and a bathroom, whilst maintaining good ceiling heights on the first floor. This allowed the family to live in the house as it was renovated around them, with the enlarged utility room running as a temporary kitchen. The ground floor was then opened into a kitchen, dining and sitting space with a light filled snug sitting where the original kitchen had been.

With both parents often working from home, two separate offices were needed, as well as a separate cinema room and downstairs w/c. The first floor principal suite was enlarged and rearranged to include a separate dressing room, gym and ensuite bathroom whilst still managing to retain six bedrooms.