Kitchen and Basement Extensions

Kidbrooke Gardens, SE3

CONTEXT

The proposal is to build a ground floor kitchen extension and extend basement bedroom into existing light well on the rear of this modern (circa 2014) detached house. The house’s site is located at the end of a long garden at 31 Kidbrooke Grove, which is 27.4m away and as such 35 Kidbrooke Gardens really only has one close next door neighbour at 33 Kidbrooke Gardens, which is 4.8m away from the house. The rear of 33 Kidbrooke Gardens extends back 8.2m from the rear of 35 Kidbrooke Gardens. So any extension will not have any impact on its neighbours at 33 Kidbrooke Gardens nor 31 Kidbrooke Grove.

The applicant wishes to extend both the bedroom in the basement (sideways into the existing light well) and the kitchen on the ground floor (outwards and sideways) above to facilitate a growing young family. Presently the kitchen and living space are located on the top floor, which has an open ceiling to a pitched roof. As such the children have difficulty accessing the garden from their current living/kitchen space because it is upstairs and the young children cannot be monitored outside either- so the proposal to put an extended kitchen on the ground floor that will help with the care of and monitoring of the children. In the basement there is ample space in the dug out area to extend the existing small single bed bedroom into an L-shaped plan that will accommodate two children in one room with two single beds, two desks and two wardrobes. Please note that the basement proposal does not include any extension of the dug out basement/light well.

ACCESS

The proposed ground floor kitchen will replace the existing bathroom bedroom and will extend 1.2 m from the edge of the existing basement area and sideways into the dug out area in the basement. The length of the extension is not going to impact on the TPO Lime tree located in the garden behind the house- whose stem is 7.6m away from the rear of the extension’s back edge. Please see Tree Report. The sideways extension is not going to limit light downstairs as the remaining dug-out area will provide light to both the existing master bedroom and the new sideways, extended, L-shaped bedroom for the children. Upon entry to the house the existing hall and landing have been slightly enlarged because a new shower room has been proposed to replace the existing landing cupboard; and this will push into the kitchen by 300mm. The kitchen is accessed off a newly created doorway and leads one past an island and dining table onto the terrace and garden. The basement is accessed down the staircase off the landing mentioned above, and a new opening is proposed to access the proposed L-shaped bedroom, from which one can access the dug out area via French doors.

DESIGN

The plan design of the kitchen is dictated by the basement arrangement and vice versa. The length of the kitchen was dictated by not wanting to take away too much of the limited garden space and by wanting to accommodate a new kitchen with an island, a dining table and a large sofa. Whilst the width of the extension was dictated by the need to accommodate an extra bed, extra wardrobe and extra study table in the L-shaped room below. The rear of the kitchen/dining extension will comprise two sliding glass doors and the side of this extension will be made of a fixed, frameless glass panel- the height of which is dictated by the existing ceiling in the main house. The Western side of the extension will be a brick flank wall that continues from the existing wall and is stitched into this existing flank wall with matching brickwork. The use of minimally framed glass sliding doors and side panel of fixed glass is meant to create a minimal look and feel with a character that is in-keeping with the modern minimal character of the house generally. Above the kitchen island there is a proposed skylight located. At the front there is presently a timber zig-zag cladding feature that will be removed and replaced with a proposed planted wall, also proposed at the front is a new timber structured and clad bin store (which previously was granted planning approval), situated just in front of the garden fence and a proposed car charging electricity socket- that will be partially obscured by the planted wall.

MATERIALS

The brickwork walls on the flank side of the extension will be of matching cream brickwork with matching mortar joints. The fixed glass panel will be Pilkingtons’ self cleaning glass and the three sliding doors shall be thinly framed aluminium framed self cleaning glass- equally divided into two panels. The exiting cast iron handrails and balustrade for the dug-out area shall be replaced by a new all glass balustrade. The French doors in the basement bedroom for the L-shaped bedroom shall match the existing French doors in the master bedroom. The rood of the extension shall be clad in lead and have a stone coping around the perimeter.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion this kitchen extension shall look modern in character and have minimal impact on the house externally, whilst opening up the family living spaces of the kitchen to the garden and its sunlight, internally. It will not impact on any neighbours as they are either far away (more than 27m East) or 8.2m away from the stepped back rear of 33 Kidbrooke Gardens on the West side. The extra space in the bedroom will mean that the family can stay-put and the children will have adequate space to live and study in their bedrooms. In short this 1.2m extension is small but offers much enhancement to the applicant and his family- in terms of improved life styles, extra light and space and improved access for a growing family to the garden and around the ground floor.