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Projects · East Molesey, Surrey

East Molesey extension

A badly built extension with a column splitting the kitchen, reworked into one bright family room with a new rear extension.

The reworked rear of the East Molesey home

Martin Swatton Design conceived and designed the complete scheme through to planning for his clients, collaborating with James Williamson Architects, who provided the technical design, Building Regulations and construction drawings throughout the build.

This home in East Molesey had the right ingredients, but its earlier rear extension had been poorly built. A heavy block column stood in the kitchen and cut the room in two, and the structure around it made the space dark and awkward. It did not match how the family actually lived.

Park Road came to us with planning permission in place and Martin’s 3D visuals. Our job was to make it buildable. We took the scheme through technical design and Building Regulations, worked out the structure with the engineer so the old column could come out and the new steel could sit within the depth of the floor, hidden from view, and produced the construction drawings the builder worked from. The clean, flat ceilings the owners had wanted from the start come from that stage being done carefully. We commissioned Fred Howarth’s photographs of the finished house.

With the structure resolved, the rest of the plan could follow. A new extension at the rear, clad in bronze metal, gives the house a proper connection to its garden. Inside, the kitchen and dining room now run into one another, with a German kitchen in matt black, white and timber.

One request mattered a great deal to the family: somewhere to keep and display a large vinyl collection built up over years of DJing. Martin’s design gave them a window seat and shelving around a new picture window, a place to read, play records or sit with a glass of wine at the end of the day.

What began as a compromised extension is now a bright, open family space that works for the way they live.

The rear extension from the deck, its bronze soffit and glazed doors below the original brick house
The rear extension from the deck, its bronze soffit and glazed doors below the original brick house
The corner of the extension, where bronze cladding meets a dark rendered pier beside the glazed door
The corner of the extension, where bronze cladding meets a dark rendered pier beside the glazed door
Looking along the deck to the bronze soffit and the glazed doors, with planters against the fence
Looking along the deck to the bronze soffit and the glazed doors, with planters against the fence
A glazed door and dark rendered pier under the overhanging bronze roof, with the fence beyond
A glazed door and dark rendered pier under the overhanging bronze roof, with the fence beyond
The extension from the garden with its folding doors open to the dining table inside
The extension from the garden with its folding doors open to the dining table inside
The extension from the garden with the folding doors closed, beneath the original brick house
The extension from the garden with the folding doors closed, beneath the original brick house
Close view of the window seat, with records and books on shelves beside the glazed door
Close view of the window seat, with records and books on shelves beside the glazed door
Looking up at the timber-lined edge of a rooflight
Looking up at the timber-lined edge of a rooflight
The dining table looking out through the folding doors to the garden, with the window seat to one side
The dining table looking out through the folding doors to the garden, with the window seat to one side
Shelving and a window seat built around the picture window, seen from the dining table
Shelving and a window seat built around the picture window, seen from the dining table
The picture window with its cushioned seat and shelves of records and books on either side
The picture window with its cushioned seat and shelves of records and books on either side
Looking across the dining table to the kitchen, with dark cupboards and timber shelving on the right
Looking across the dining table to the kitchen, with dark cupboards and timber shelving on the right
The window seat under a rooflight, with the glazed door to the garden beside it
The window seat under a rooflight, with the glazed door to the garden beside it
Pendant bulbs over the kitchen worktop, with the window seat and shelving beyond
Pendant bulbs over the kitchen worktop, with the window seat and shelving beyond
Looking over the hob and worktop to the dining table and the garden through the folding doors
Looking over the hob and worktop to the dining table and the garden through the folding doors
The kitchen with its dark wall units and white base units, looking through to the sofa beyond
The kitchen with its dark wall units and white base units, looking through to the sofa beyond
A full-height run of dark cupboards housing the ovens and a wine fridge
A full-height run of dark cupboards housing the ovens and a wine fridge
White units and a grey worktop under dark wall cupboards, with the record shelves to one side
White units and a grey worktop under dark wall cupboards, with the record shelves to one side
The kitchen looking past the peninsula to the dining table and the folding doors onto the deck
The kitchen looking past the peninsula to the dining table and the folding doors onto the deck
Looking past the kitchen peninsula to the dining table and the garden beyond
Looking past the kitchen peninsula to the dining table and the garden beyond
The kitchen looking towards the dining area, with tall dark cupboards along one side
The kitchen looking towards the dining area, with tall dark cupboards along one side
A corner sofa under a long slot window, with the kitchen worktop to one side
A corner sofa under a long slot window, with the kitchen worktop to one side
The dining table, the window seat and a desk against the exposed brick wall, with doors to the garden
The dining table, the window seat and a desk against the exposed brick wall, with doors to the garden

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