City Terrace

A dark and badly laid out 2-bedroom terrace was turned into a 5-bedrooms and 3-bathrooms light-filled family home. The project brings new life to the local area by creating an interesting landmark amongst old tired workers cottages. Preserving the old fragile fabric was paramount for the heritage-listed terrace house.

Old and new stand side by side, inside they both intertwine. We celebrate the modern as well as the heritage by using traditional materials such as exposed timber, rendered masonry and cladding. Upgrading the outdated terrace with modern technology as well as acoustic and heat insulation improved the building sustainability overall.

The modest and contemporary colour scheme lets the building stand out on its prominent corner position and emphasises the heritage and modern annex respectively in a very balanced manner.
The main principle of the design proposal was to preserve and enhance the existing building. Reversing the room order from front to back made the living more usable and suitable for the 21st century demands and needs.

Opening up the rear of the building gave the owners a new open plan living area with an abundance of natural light. This makes the new transformed terrace so much more usable and liveable.

Due to the land fall of 1.5m the previous rear part of the property was stepping on multiple levels, making it impractical and constrained. The new is levelled on ground floor resulting in a maximisation of usable floor area and roaring high ceilings of 3.7m height.The proposed building addition adopted principles from the immediate neighbours in regards to the upper floor extension. Inspiration was found in roof shapes and the use of materials.

Being situated on a corner, the design is providing a coherent bookend style house to the block of terrace houses.

The brief was to maximise the yield in terms of bedrooms and bathroom whilst still maintaining usable room sizes and providing ample storage. The result is a number of four double bedrooms and three living spaces. The old off-street parking spot was improved and can now accommodate a big family type car inside the new lock-up garage studio. The major improvement of the property is the self-contained studio garage which is flexible in use for the owners.

As this project was a family venture, husband builder and wife architect/designer have worked hand in hand to deliver the best possible family home. Off the shelf as well as custom made products are featured throughout in this transformed terrace house.

 Electricians and plumbers took good care with the old and fragile building fabric whilst equipping it with energy saving fixtures and fittings to be more economical and ecological for the long run.

 Down the line of building the new family home, financial compromises had to be made whilst still managing a pleasing and satisfying outcome. High quality finishes have been delivered throughout the terrace house by using cost-effective materials in an artistic and different way.