INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Internally, the feature glazed gable, vaulted ceiling and rooflights helped to provide a light, contemporary and luxurious feel to the new extended area of the building, whilst facilitating ample borrowed light to the rooms of the dwelling that were extended.  (It is important that extensions do not leave dark spaces behind them within the existing rooms from which an extension is built, this can be offset by creating very light and open spaces within the extension to ensure sufficient borrowed light is created, or where possible providing additional windows on the side elevation to serve the existing rooms where a rear extension is being created). 

TECHNICAL AND GREEN DESIGN PRINCIPLES: The south facing glazed screen also gave the opportunity for the building to benefit from the provision of passive solar gains to supplement the conventional heating system by natural means in the winter months. (Being as the property was located in a conservation area, heavily shaded in the summer, and benefited from natural slate roofing materials, the homeowners preferred not to attach solar panels to the property and as such natural passive heating principles were introduced into the design).  The garden area, heavily shaded in the summer months by the adjacent deciduous tree line and mature planting to the garden coupled with the raised garden area avoids the extension overheating in the summer months.  Whilst, in the winter months, when the sun is lower and the foliage on the trees and shrub planting dies back, the property then benefits from a natural passive solar gains owing to the height and scale of the glazed screen.  The high thermal mass of the internal masonry structure of the building then allows the property absorb the heat in the daytime, whilst gradually releasing the energy as the temperature falls at night, helping to regulate a consistent internal temperature.  To further control unwanted passive solar gains in the summer, blinds were fitted to the glazed screen and rooflights, with the high level rooflights also opening via remote control to facilitate additional rapid ventilation working in conjunction with the french doors and glazed screen openings giving a fully controllable passively heated environment.

EXTERNAL AESTHETIC: The existing painted brickwork of the property gave the opportunity to seamlessly blend the new and old walling materials together.  The extension was painted with a white masonry paint, whilst the main dwelling was also repainted to blur the junction between the new and old.  The existing natural slate roof was also replicated on the extension to give a simple and consistent material palette.  As the rear garden was elevated from the dwelling, the glazed screen reaching up into the gable maximised both the view and natural lighting available to the homeowner whilst providing a dramatically styled extension. To fully refurbish and upgrade the external elevation, the existing first floor UPVc windows were replaced with matching oak windows more befitting a conservation area siting.