Original projects to inspire your own self-build or renovation
NEWS
Within these walls
The Arbor House in Aberdeen, Scotland, is built from a mix of new materials and stone salvaged from the dilapidated coach house that once stood here. Brown & Brown’s 333sqm design for Russel Davies and Wendy Wilkie involved demolishing all but one of the original walls, which is now part of a new ground floor alongside sections of board-marked concrete, with a cantilevered upper storey clad in slim larch battens. Salvaged stone forms a boundary wall that separates this four-bedroom house from the busy road beyond. The project cost £3,300 per sqm. (brownandbrown.studio)
A clear improvement
A couple with two young boys asked architect Steve Cox to design a rear kitchen extension to complete the refurbishment of their six-bedroom house in a south London conservation area. To take advantage of the views, a run of long, thin sliding windows open on to the garden, and there’s a series of rooflights that fill the new kitchen with light. To avoid overheating in summer, electrically controlled roller blinds are hidden in a recess above ceiling level. The 40sqm project was completed in early 2023 and cost £125,000. (coxarchitects.co.uk)
Newly crafted
When Anna Frandevi and Malcolm Walton bought a seven-bedroom house in Epping, Essex, its Arts and Crafts style had been spoilt by piecemeal extensions including three ugly bay windows. Dominic McKenzie Architects revived the 365sqm property for £500,000, including making the ground floor open plan save for a single oak column supporting the original contoured staircase above the new kitchen. The rear façade now has black timber-framed glazing and is clad in silvery larch, and timber French doors replace the clunky bay windows. (dominicmckenzie.co.uk)
All the right angles
A winged roof allows extra light
