Alex and Sam - Hertfordshire Contemporary Home
Project Year: 2015
Country: United Kingdom
Postcode: AL6 9NQ
Alex and Sam purchased their run down cottage in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, as a renovation project to develop into their dream home. The original house was a small two up two down cottage that had been extended to both sides. The house had fallen into a state of disrepair and required extensive renovation and refurbishment to bring back to modern living standards.
The house stands on a very unique site. It backs onto a road with a level change down to a river below; the main part of the garden being located to the other side of the river and accessed over a small bridge. Due to the property’s setting it was decided in the initial design to flip the living spaces to the upper floor, and move the sleeping accommodation down to the lower level thus creating an upside down house. A new garage structure and carport was added to the side of the house.
The upper level was designed as a single open-plan space, with three clearly defined area’s; kitchen, dining and living. One of the key design elements was the first floor terrace that wraps itself around the upper level. This allows for the living space to spill outside through the full height doors and creates a lovely outside seating area for the summer months.
To the lower level a series of bedrooms open out onto the river and garden beyond, maximising the views. The bathrooms and ensuites are located to the road side of the lower level against the existing retaining wall, where they have unique features due to the existing buttresses that were inplace to help support this wall. Careful consideration in the design phase was needed in placing the sinks and baths between these structural elements.
Click Through Gallery
Key Design Features
There are a series of design features within the upside down house that makes this project unique.
Due to the location of the road and a compact site, consideration for parking needed to be made. A new garage structure was created. A car parking space with car lift was introduced to the roof to allow extra parking on the driveway.
Inside the house a main feature of the design was the installation of a central fish tank. This is located between the dining and living spaces. The tank provides an enjoyable and natural focal point to both rooms and it creates a divide and breaks up the open-plan area.
As the staircase is located towards the road side of the house, gaining natural light into both upper and lower levels was important to the design. Model Projects designed a large rectangle rooflight that sits directly over the staircase. A feature stone wall was designed to run along the staircase leading from the lower to upper levels.
A modern kitchen was included in the design with contrasting white and timber units. The kitchen consists of a line and island, the gas hob is located on the island with seating to one end. The island runs the full width of the space and runs parallel to a full height set of bi-fold doors. This allows the kitchen to flood with natural daylight and views to be observed from the kitchen.
Before and After 3D Cut-through Plans
After: 3D Floorplans (Ground and First)
Before: 3D Floorplans (Ground and First)
Route to Planning
A Householder Planning application was made under a single application with Hertfordshire County Council.
The property was increased in size by 1m2, with the original property being 180m2 and increased to 181m2, with a volume increase from 456m3 to 478m3.