Our clients wanted to refresh their family home to create new entertaining, relaxing, and cooking spaces. They had previously extended the house, but it had become tired and incorporated awkward elements that frustrated using the kitchen. They required more storage space and wanted a clearer connection to their south-facing garden.

Early in our appointment, we realised that the position of the utility room was a barrier to enjoying the garden. As such, the basement was extended to incorporate a new utility room and new pieces of joinery to maximise storage. The basement was tanked so that it could withstand groundwater from the nearby River Thames. A glazed screen beside the stair into the basement allows light to filter through, which is further reflected down by an antique mirror wall opposite.

The front living space on the ground floor was already open plan but lacked structure. We positioned joinery to provide an integrated cloakroom within the lounge and separate the room into separate zones. Our interior design team designed a more formal sitting area to the front with a bespoke bookcase. To the rear of the room, a quiet study area with a built-in desk overlooks the antique mirror wall.

We installed a large sliding partition to separate the front of the house from the kitchen to the rear. This allows the house to feel completely open when the partition is concealed within a pocket of the wall but creates a greater sense of intimacy when closed.

The rear was gutted, and the structure reconfigured to make it truly open-plan, flexible and flooded with natural light. Tom Howley installed a new kitchen, providing a traditional touch within the contemporary space. Natural light is drawn in through large roof lights and an arrangement of sliding and bi-folding doors installed by 1^st Folding Sliding Doors. These allow the back of the house to completely open up to the garden.

A Siberian Larch canopy at the back provides shading as the sun moves around over the course of the day. Rainchains built into the canopy come to life in wetter weather.