RIBA Chartered Practice · Woking, Surrey

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Projects · Guildford, Surrey

Guildford townhouse loft conversion

A townhouse that needed more room without growing outwards, given a new top floor with a bedroom suite, an office and storage.

The converted loft in the Guildford townhouse

At a glance

  • The brief: more room for a Guildford townhouse without extending its footprint.
  • The constraint: the existing roof structure set the limits on headroom and layout.
  • What we did: designed a new top floor with a main bedroom suite, a home office and built-in storage, then took the scheme through planning and helped the owners choose a contractor.
  • The outcome: a floor of usable rooms added without the house growing outwards.

The brief

Heather needed more room in her townhouse, but did not want to extend the footprint of the house. The space going unused was in the roof.

The constraint

In a townhouse the roof decides almost everything: where the headroom is, where a stair can land and how much of the floor is usable. So the design started there, with what the existing structure would allow.

What we did

Within those limits the attic became three things the house was short of: a main bedroom suite, a home office and a good deal of built-in storage. Light comes from new dormer windows and rooflights, and the main bedroom has a Juliet balcony. The staircase was upgraded to reach the new floor properly. Underfloor heating keeps the walls free of radiators, and sliding doors save the space a door swing would take. In rooms with sloping ceilings, where usable wall is limited, both of those choices matter.

The new rooms were kept in keeping with the rest of the townhouse, so the top floor reads as part of the same house and not as something added later. Our work ran from the feasibility stage through planning approval and on to helping the owners choose a contractor.

The outcome

The house gained a floor of usable rooms without growing outwards, and every room below it kept its space.

“He listened to our thoughts and preferences, took time to answer questions really clearly and show us options, before we agreed on a final plan.”

Heather, Guildford, Google review, October 2024

Dark timber-clad dormers at the back of the townhouse, one with a Juliet balcony
Dark timber-clad dormers at the back of the townhouse, one with a Juliet balcony
The loft bedroom, with two rooflights and the glazed balustrade around the stair
The loft bedroom, with two rooflights and the glazed balustrade around the stair
Looking up the new stair between timber and glass balustrades to the desk and wardrobes
Looking up the new stair between timber and glass balustrades to the desk and wardrobes
Two rooflights over the desk under the slope, with built-in wardrobes along the far wall
Two rooflights over the desk under the slope, with built-in wardrobes along the far wall
The bed seen across the stair balustrade, with the window to the trees beyond
The bed seen across the stair balustrade, with the window to the trees beyond
Built-in wardrobes run the length of the bedroom towards the window and the en-suite door
Built-in wardrobes run the length of the bedroom towards the window and the en-suite door
The bedroom window looks over neighbouring rooftops and trees, with the en-suite beyond
The bedroom window looks over neighbouring rooftops and trees, with the en-suite beyond
From the bed, looking past the stair balustrade to the desk under the rooflights
From the bed, looking past the stair balustrade to the desk under the rooflights
The en-suite shower, with white herringbone tiles and black fittings, and the bedroom beyond
The en-suite shower, with white herringbone tiles and black fittings, and the bedroom beyond
A basin and round mirror on the herringbone-tiled wall of the en-suite, beside the window
A basin and round mirror on the herringbone-tiled wall of the en-suite, beside the window
Handheld shower on a rail and a recessed shelf set into the white herringbone tiles
Handheld shower on a rail and a recessed shelf set into the white herringbone tiles

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Accreditations

  • RIBA Chartered Practice
  • ARB registered architect, registration number 088216J
  • AECB member
  • Passivhaus Trust member
  • LABC Registered Partner, Partner Authority Scheme
  • Woking Chamber of Commerce member