Ground floor side return infill

The owners asked us not to cover the steel up. They were right.

Project type

Planning route

Borough

Side return

Permitted development

Wandsworth

The decision that mattered

A side return extension on Brudenell Road, opening the ground floor into a single kitchen, dining and living space with full-width bi-fold doors and Velux rooflights overhead.

The decision that defines it is the finish. Almost every extension we are asked to price assumes the structure disappears — steel boxed in, brickwork plastered, everything smooth and white. Here the brick was left exposed and the steel left visible, which gives the room the industrial character the owners were after and, incidentally, costs less than covering it all up.

Exposing structure is a decision you make early

It is not simply a matter of not plastering. Steel that will be seen has to be specified, finished and protected differently from steel that will be hidden behind boards, and fire protection has to be resolved in a way that still looks like exposed steel at the end. Brickwork that will be on show has to be laid to a standard that plaster would have forgiven.

Decide it at drawing stage and it costs less than the alternative. Decide it once the beam is in and it costs considerably more.

Worth knowing if you are planning the same thing

Full-width bi-folds and rooflights together are what make a side return work. A side return extension is deep and narrow by definition, so light has to come from above as well as from the end, or you produce a corridor with a nice view at one end of it.

If your terrace has an outrigger, expect the party wall process on at least one side, and expect the neighbour's drainage to be discovered somewhere it was not on any drawing. That is normal. What matters is whether your builder has a plan for 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.

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