1928    Appletree Cottage

Liv were approached by a young family who had recently moved into a tired semi-detached cottage in West Norfolk. The cottage had been extended numerous times over its history, with the rear of the cottage being a jumble of incongruous extensions and conservatories. The cottage did not provide the sort of living space which a modern family needs, with the living spaces locked centrally in the plan and separated from the garden by the various ancillary extensions behind.

This design chose to replace some of the extensions, while retaining others, and unified the whole within a single wrap-around addition which occupies the same footprint as the original extensions, along with internal realignment to make the spaces work better and flow together. The kitchen was relocated to the front of the house, which is south facing, drawing light into the open plan living space.  The rear of the house is north facing, and so the new and reconfigured extensions are unified by a saw-tooth roofline creating east and west facing roofs, which allow for generous rooflights bringing morning and evening light into the newly positioned rear living spaces. The saw tooth form gives internal interest too, with a feeling of expansion towards the back of the internal spaces.

The internal arrangement is of one single 'broken plan' layout, with distinct but connected living, dining and kitchen spaces, as well as a separate playroom, utility room and WC. As well as making use of all existing openings (including for display and visual connection) ,the stairs to the first floor were rotated, leading off from the main living space. The front entrance to the house was also re-imagined, with a poor lean-to extension removed, and the front door relocated to provide better internal connection, and allow for a significant amount of storage and connection to a new practical utility room.