Richmond, TW2
Ground floor rear extension
A downstairs bathroom, which changed the house more than the extra room did.
Project type
Planning route
Borough
Rear extension
Permitted development
Richmond
The decision that mattered
A straight rear extension in Richmond upon Thames, out 3.5 metres into the garden. The living room was extended, and the kitchen and dining area merged into one room overlooking the garden.
The part that changed daily life was the ground floor bathroom. Extensions are usually sold on open plan living, and open plan living is what gets photographed — but on a family house a second bathroom downstairs removes a queue that forms every single morning. It is the least photogenic thing in this project and the thing the household would miss first.
Why 3.5 metres
Depth on a rear extension is not a free choice. It is governed by what is permitted at your address, by how much garden you are willing to lose, and by the daylight consequences for the rooms behind it. Beyond a certain depth you are trading a bright garden-facing room for a dark middle of the house — and the right number is the one that stops before that happens.
Bi-fold doors and rooflights carry daylight to the back of the plan here, which is what allows the depth to work rather than simply pushing the darkness further in.
Worth knowing if you are planning the same thing
Ask what happens to your existing rear rooms once the extension is on. A good answer describes the daylight, the sightlines and how you move through the space. A bad answer talks only about the new room. Every extension takes something from the rooms it is attached to, and the design either accounts for that or ignores it.
Start with a survey, not a guess
If your house is a similar shape, most of the same decisions will apply. We will come and look, and tell you what the building allows before anyone spends anything.
Photographs from this job
