Like most unaltered houses, the kitchen is in the back and has a very tiny window, with views into the garden. The patio door from the living room gives a little insight into the garden. One can mainly see the side wall of the Kitchen and not the garden itself. There is no connection between the kitchen and the living room, apart from a doorway that is hidden under the staircase.
To make this Manchester house extension work better, we looked at 3 options. The main priority for the client was to get the kitchen to be more open to the living room. They really respected their neighbours and didn’t want do this extension in a way that would upset them. The good relationship had to be maintained. The garden was very sunny so opening the kitchen into the garden to see more of it was top of their list.
We looked at 3 options with the client.
The ground floor level was a good half a meter above the garden lawn, and this allowed us to look at a lowered level extension. This house had a decent sized basement, so we accommodated a new set of stairs connecting all 3 levels in the house.
We also looked at a simple kitchen reconfiguration, by opening the wall into the living room.
After the workshop, the client can now cross check their chosen option with their budget before commencing to next stage. The rough estimations that we gave during the workshop need to be reviewed by specialists, that are the most up to date with current market prices.
We suggest to the client that they ask the builders for a ballpark price or to go to a Quantity Surveyor.
Magda talked us through eventualities and opportunities and now we have a better view to what we can do next.
Nick and Jannine
I enjoy making the house work for my clients!
It was interesting to see how different level options would improve the connection with the garden.
One proposal was to change and move the kitchen into the middle of the house and to open the rear of the house and link it with the garden. I enjoy making the house work for my clients!
Pride Road