Steady Progress

This family home in Edinburgh had grown organically over the years with various extensions and alterations, which lead to a deep plan, internal land-locked rooms, extended circulation going through spaces and although the footprint was large, the house itself felt small.  Access to the large rear garden was also via a side door, into a courtyard, then along a narrow passage.

Before: Original plan

Before: Side facing the garden

The family wanted a variety of social spaces: for both adults and teenagers, as well as a larger more social kitchen, plus utility room, drying room and cycle storage, as well as direct garden access!

Sketch: Some intial concept ideas to open up the space

To help address this we created:

• A new dining room at the rear with sea views and direct garden access

• A diagonal storage wall, giving an existing land-locked living room daylight, ventilation and making it a destination space rather than a through route.

• A larger kitchen which removed the corner of existing house

• A utility and drying room which connected the house to the existing garage.

Proposed: The kitchen becomes the centre of the new layout

The external masonry cavity walls are all now fully insulated, reducing the heat loss of the walls by seven times, and the floor is now fully insulated and has UFH under floor heating.  The combined measures should reduce the energy bills by more than half from £2,485 down to £1,124 annually.

Walls: Originally there was no insulation on the walls.

Walls: 100mm of rigid insulation was added to the inside of the walls.

The diagonal storage wall helps create a dynamic open plan kitchen/ living/ dining space with fabulous sea views and direct garden access.

Large dramatic skylights bring direct sunlight deep into the plan and will make the spaces feel light, bright and airy.

The project should be completed before the end of the year, and completed and occupied images will follow on.