Chalfont Road

The owners of this four-storey, prime residential property in the North Oxford Victoria Suburb Conservation Area approached us to create a larger, more contemporary, family-friendly home. The house was lovely but, as is often the case with properties of this type, it didn’t have enough bathrooms, the entrance hall was very small, and there was little connection to the garden.

The front door of the house led into a small hallway in a single-storey structure to the side of the principal four-storey building – a common arrangement in Victorian townhouses.

We re-sited the staircase so that there is now a line of sight from the entrance through to the garden. A side light well in the hallway channels daylight down into the centre of the once gloomy lower ground floor and the kitchen.

A new contemporary side extension above the hallway contains a much-needed additional bathroom with an unusual slip window.

The main addition is at the back of the house where a new three-storey rear extension replaces a dated conservatory.

The external design of the upper floors matches the Victorian architecture of the original house. On the first floor is a new study and above that is a new en-suite bathroom for the extended master bedroom.

The ground floor of the new rear extension extends by a further 4 metres into the garden. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors connect it to the garden and roof lights bring in more natural light.

This open plan space now houses the kitchen, dining area and playroom. It stretches from the centre of the lower ground floor into the new rear extension and out to the garden.

We worked closely with the planning team at Oxford City Council to gain approval. The extensions are hidden from the street so they do not impact upon the front elevation and maintain the current streetscape.