We were appointed to develop a scheme to completely overhaul a 1930’s cottage in Ovingdean. Our clients wished to create an open plan living area across the back of the property whilst adding a new upper storey to provide three additional bedrooms. Sustainable technologies and materials were to be used where possible whilst generally updating the appearance of the house.

To achieve our brief, we first needed to remove most of the internal walls. This enabled us to create the open plan living area, offsetting each room to follow the existing plan. We were also able to plan in a utility room and home office / guest bedroom. Externally the ground floor would be re-rendered, unifying its appearance. Upstairs we proposed a lightweight timber clad construction to reduce the requirement for structural works. To emphasise the lightweight nature, some of the first floor cantilevered over the ground floor. Within this timber addition are the 3 bedrooms, ensuite and bathroom. Brise-soleil and timber screening was used to provide some privacy and solar shading to the large format windows in each bedroom. The pitched roof was replaced with a flat roof accommodating a solar array.