Case Study – House Extension

The Client

For Adam, the idea of an extension took shape when part of the decking came away at the back of the house.

We knew there was a lot of unused space in the garden. Then when the decking came away, we saw how much space was underneath. My son said ‘Why don’t we build over it?’

They decided to extend into their little-used back garden. Adam had a rough idea of what he wanted, but wasn’t clear on the details.
We knew we wanted a glass wall at the back of the house – but that was it, and we didn’t know how to achieve it.

The Process

We came in to take initial measurements and discuss Adam’s ideas for the space. We also provided information about the planning process – what would pass and equally as important, what wouldn’t.

Jaimie looked at it, and did loads of drawings. He tweaked it to give us what we wanted… but also what the council would pass. He was great with the technical side because he knew how the planning process worked.

He did the drawings, the applications, the whole lot basically. And he always copied us in on the emails to the council so we knew what was happening.

Adam had warned us that their neighbours were worried about his plans for an extension, and were likely to complain.
He even liaised with our neighbours, so we didn’t have to get involved. For the Party Wall Agreement, he arranged the surveyor, managed the structural calculations and dealt with the surveyor.
There were challenges with the project, partly because of the size of the extension, and also because it was to be built on a slope.

It was an odd one, a large structure, so we had a few issues with the engineering that needed to be changed. Jaimie dealt with the Building Control Officer for us. He knew everyone involved in the project so when there were problems, which we knew there would be, they were resolved really efficiently.

The Result

As well as more space in the house, Adam has also benefited from an amazing view.

It’s made a massive difference. You walk into our living room, and see all the way through the glass balustrade to the sea. Everyone who comes into our house says ‘Wow!’