Residential Design and Build: L-shaped Extension in Ealing, London

The Customer

City professionals with a young daughter. They wanted a more open plan layout with the kitchen, dining area and garden combined into one connected communal area. The client had previously spent months researching “Grand Designs” projects and wanted a finished project which matched the quality, calibre and innovation of a Grand Designs project.

The Challenge

The client required the design and build of an L-shaped extension to a Victorian three storey house.

This included the demolition of an existing rear kitchen and the creation of a large open plan kitchen with stepped down dining area which opened into a raised deck in the garden.

The client also required a kitchen with a lot more natural outdoor light.

The brief called for a Grand Designs inspired look with an emphasis on a clean, modern design that would bring the kitchen and dining area together seamlessly.

Special Features

• Exposed, internal facing bricks
• Exposed steel to create an internal, ‘industrial’ feel which the client requested
• The installation of a new Proline kitchen with custom plinth shelving
• A glass roof

The Solution

The client had a very specific taste as to what they were looking for, so we worked closely with them over a period of time to go over their ideas, review styles and brainstorm layouts. Eventually, we helped the client find the sort of style and layout they were happy to go with. Alongside 2D sketches, we used 3D models and 3D visual walkthroughs to really help the client fully visualise and experience their ideas.

To fulfil the client’s wish of more natural light, Bischell architects worked carefully to create a unique glass roof arrangement with specially calculated angles. The overall style of the project involved a fusion of minimalistic, clean and modern design with a polished industrial feel – a style heavily inspired by Grand Design projects the client liked.

Alongside the project, there were a number of challenges brought by neighbours of the client.

Neighbour dispute 1:

The neighbour opposed the shared fence being replaced by an extension wall. After mediation with the neighbour and client, we proposed a solution of minimising the wall height to create a less overbearing effect. We worked around this reduced wall height by incorporating a unique roof design for adequate head height.

Neighbour dispute 2:

Another neighbour simply didn’t like the idea of any construction taking place and was concerned that it may impact their own day-to-day life. Despite obtaining full planning permission from the council (and therefore being able to ignore the dispute if we wished to do so) we instead adopted a mediation approach, as we do with all project disputes, where we engaged in dialogue with the neighbour to address their concerns. This approach is not only often the most effective at resolving disputes, but it also maintains the best relationship between the client and neighbour after the project is finished.