Proposed Alterations and Extension – Newmarket

Existing Land Use

The proposed site is a residential period property, two storey with garage and conservatory outbuildings

The site is within a conservation area.

Clients Brief:

Problems: the client wanted to replace the existing conservatory which was felt to be unsatisfactory, largely because of the polycarbonate sheet roofing which was noisy when it rains, give poor thermal performance and was not suitable for a habitable room.

The existing kitchen was dark because the window, which faces NE, looked into the conservatory and got insufficient light into the kitchen.

The existing study also had no direct external light or ventilation. The conservatory contained the washing machine and tumble drier at one end and had the appearance of a utility room in that area.

There was a step between the existing kitchen and conservatory.

KJ Architects Proposals:

In replacing the roof it was felt that this gave an opportunity to improve the space available by building the new wall slightly forward of the old wall which fell within the listed grade 2 demise of the adjacent Glenely Rest and also to enlarge the kitchen into the conservatory thereby giving it a light and airy aspect. The remodelling also gave an opportunity to relocate the washing machine / tumble drier into the new utility room.

It was intended to demolish the existing conservatory and to build the replacement ‘Kitchen garden room’ with a slightly larger footprint. The new external wall consists largely of new aluminium folding / sliding doors which can fold back to allow uninterrupted access to the garden. The new, heavily insulated, flat roof was finished in single ply membrane in ‘lead’ colour  with a new lantern rooflight as the main feature and smaller rooflights used to give light and ventilation where required.

The Removal of the existing kitchen/conservatory wall has allowed the kitchen space to flow out into the new ‘kitchen garden room’ to maximize the space and light available for this activity. The floor level in the new garden room/study and utility room was reduced to match the floor level of the existing house.

As part of the proposed works the first floor bathroom window which was single glazed and overlooks the conservatory roof was upgraded by a new matching timber window with double glazed units with obscure glass as required.

Sustainability

The existing conservatory was entirely roofed with polycarbonate sheeting – with the proposals it was intended to replace this with a flat roof with a high thermal performance with double glazed rooflights where required. The existing timber / glazed doors are only single glazed and fall short of current thermal requirements. These were replaced with the new aluminium folding sliding doors which are double glazed with thermally broken frames.

The new floor now has underfloor heating and has incorporate thermal insulation greatly improving on the performance of the existing concrete/screed floor.

Where necessary the existing external walls were upgraded with insulation / plasterboard lining. These measures all go to greatly improve the thermal performance of this replacement building.

Quote from our client –“Thank you for designing us such a great space!”