Ground floor side extension

The dead alley down the side became the middle of the kitchen.

Project type

Planning route

Borough

Side extension

Permitted development

Wandsworth

The decision that mattered

This house had the layout most Victorian terraces have: an outrigger at the back with a narrow alley running down beside it. That alley is dead space. Nobody sits in it, nothing is stored in it, and it is doing nothing except making the kitchen narrow.

We extended into it to square the ground floor into a single large room. The result is a kitchen and dining area wide enough for an island to sit at the centre rather than being pressed against a wall — which is the actual difference between a galley you pass through and a room the household lives in.

Three finish decisions worth stealing

— Porcelain tile made to look like floorboards. It takes underfloor heating far better than timber, it does not move with humidity, and in a room opening onto a garden it survives what gets walked in.

— Underfloor heating run off a Nest thermostat. Underfloor is slow to respond by nature, so it rewards a controller that learns a schedule rather than being switched on and off by hand.

— Black aluminium crittall-style doors across the rear. Slim sightlines, so more glass and less frame in the same opening.

Worth knowing if you are planning the same thing

Infilling a side return usually means building right up to the boundary, which means a party wall agreement with the neighbour on that side before anyone digs. Start that conversation early and informally. It is a legal process with fixed notice periods, and it is the most common reason a start date slips.

Also decide on underfloor heating before the slab is poured, not after. It is one of the few things in a build that genuinely cannot be added later without starting the floor again.

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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