We visited one of our smallest built projects to date! A dark bedroom in a 1960s house in Thames Ditton was converted into a double height space with plenty of daylight coming from two skylights and a new window at the back. The main space will be used as a study while a bed platform will provide useful additional space for guests. More pictures to follow!
This project dates to 2016 when the client, a retired lady, approached us to carry out an alteration to her 1960’s terraced house in Thames Ditton.
The existing layout of the property was quite peculiar, and it comprised of two double bedrooms at first floor level and some space in the loft that was not being used.
The client initially wanted to raise the ceiling of one of the two bedrooms to create a vaulted space with skylights above to take advantage of additional daylight. Shortly after the preliminary stages, it became apparent that it would have been possible to also create a mezzanine level for a small home office and to form a window to the rear of the property that would provide additional daylight and cross ventilation.
The budget was relatively low, and the client wanted to retain the existing wooden floor of the property.
The presence of a mezzanine obviously meant having a new stair that would connect the existing first floor of the property to the new mezzanine level. From a design perspective we had to be very careful due to potential head height issues with the existing roof of the property that had to be re-insulated and re-supported structurally.
The existing A-frame structure also had to be replaced with new structural elements whose specifications were provided by our Engineer.
The alterations proposed where all internal and the property did not fall within a Conservation Area therefore planning was not required in this instance, however we applied for Building Control approval. We also provided advice in terms of party wall requirements and artificial lighting.
The project was delivered within budget and within the agreed time frame and the result was quite impressive. The original bedroom once extended felt much larger due to the added volume and the presence of the additional mezzanine space.