The practice was approached to undertake a conversion and alteration project to a series of buildings that formed an urban town centre courtyard.  The brief was to create a large family dwelling that wraps around the whole courtyard so as to produce a welcoming and cohesive property for the clients to enjoy.

The property has a series of different elements, which form the whole house. To the street face, there is an elegant 1900s double fronted Victorian terraced house with flying buttresses and gable bay roofs.  To the rear of the property was a two-storey white-clad barn that has exposed timber-framing and large carthorse door openings.  In between the two was situated a modern red brick annexe that runs in line with the outrigger of the main house.

In order to finalise a design and layout that works for the client, we surveyed the house and then undertook a series of feasibility sketches.  Some important characteristics the client requested were:

• five bedrooms minimum
• large entertainment area – kitchen, dining and informal living
• double height void spaces to link the ground and first floor
• to ensure the front terrace house does not feel disconnected from the whole house.

The final design included a two storey building that extended from the rear of the retained Victorian property and wrapped around two sides of the courtyard garden. This two storey building was designed to be in two materials influenced by the original buildings – bottom half buff Cambridge stock brickwork and upper in black timber cladding.

The design has retained the Victorian element at one end of the build with the new elements transforming into a ‘loft style’ build that contrasts with the traditional frontage. Internally the clients and ourselves have worked closely to develop interiors that uses a sympathetic and cohesive arrangement of materials to create their family home.

The planning was granted in March 2017. The construction phase is virtually completed with the external landscaping the remaining element to be completed by Joseph Construction Ltd (Client and contractor). Here are a few photographs of the finished house with professional shots being undertaken once the exterior landscaping is finished.