Extension to a Townhouse, Stockbridge, Edinburgh
June 2023
Construction costs are are available upon request
Building Contractor - Fixt Edinburgh
Structural Engineers - McColl Associates
Zinc - Copper & Grey
Glazing - Express Bifold
Kitchen - Riddle & Coghill
Photos - Capital A Architecture Ltd
The client commissioned Capital A in 2020 to design a new extension at the rear of their mid-terrace townhouse in Stockbridge. The project also included a comprehensive renovation and re-design of the internal layout throughout the three-storey property. More bathrooms, a utility room and storage were added to make the home more usable but the centre of family life would be a new east-facing extension.
A central aim of the design is to connect the house with the rear garden. That garden runs at a slight angle to the house plot, so the patio doors are perpendicular to the garden, not the house, allowing the new seating and sheltered deck to face the garden.
The new kitchen and built-in storage are parallel to the house plot, which ensures the space flows from the entrance hallway to the rear garden.
The new roof is clad in zinc and supported using large Douglas Fir beams, which are exposed inside the space. The beams have a very similar, warm tone to the Siberian larch cladding used in the sheltered rear deck.
The roof slopes southward to allow the three large roof lights to bring sunlight into the kitchen during the afternoon. The roof design had to be carefully considered, as making the roof tall would overshadow the neighbours and making it flat would limit sunlight entering the kitchen. A shallow 4-degree roof was created and cladding this in zinc created a good-looking, hard-wearing finish.
The quality of light inside the extension is exceptional. The cool tones in the hallway, visible through a Crittall door, give way to neutral colours on the walls and ceiling of the extension. These are offset by warm, natural materials in the kitchen units, exposed roof beams, timber cladding and sandstone walls.
The project was impacted by Covid lockdown, and the ensuing supply chain disruption, but was successfully completed in the summer of 2023. The end result is a testament to the skill and hard work of the contractor.
The photographs shown here were taken in September 2024