Category: 3D Generated Images

Transforming a 1970s Classic into a Contemporary Home

Our clients approached us with a clear vision: to transform their dated 1970s property into a modern home with genuine curb appeal located in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire.

The primary challenge was the fragmented layout, which lacked a cohesive connection between the upper floor and the lower-level garage and gym.

By repositioning the staircase, we established a seamless link between the upper and lower levels, unifying the home’s circulation. We expanded the master bedroom suite into a new front gable extension, partially mirroring this at the entrance to create a welcoming, canopied approach.

To elevate the living experience, we replaced the rear hipped roof with a striking gable, allowing for a vaulted ceiling that brings dramatic volume to the main living areas.

The landscaping was thoughtfully redesigned to create a gentle, inviting progression from the drive to the main entrance.

Finally, the use of a sophisticated palette of dark grey brick and black timber cladding has completely transformed the home’s aesthetic, realizing the modern dream our clients envisioned.

This is due to start on site in late 2026.

This project infills an external space between the house and garage to create a vaulted ceiling kitchen, utility room and home study. Opening up the side wall to link into the extension and reroofing an existing conservatory will position all the daytime living area at the rear of the property. Glazing and folding sliding doors visually and physically connect the new interior layout to the established rear garden. Roof canopies and louvres are incorporated to control direct sunlight penetration, and to also allow external doors to be left open even when the weather turns to rain.

Replacement of the existing white painted timber cladding, guttering and windows will all help to freshen up the appearance of the house.

Any form of extension must be considerate to the neighbouring properties if planning consent is to be granted. With this project, I demonstrated how a two storey rear extension with a first floor balcony would not impact on the neighbouring properties Right of Light, or their garden amenity spaces.

The design greatly increases the ground floor living accommodation to provide a home office, storage facilities, a Utility Room and WC, and an open plan living/kitchen/dining area which spans the width of the house. This open plan area has full height glazing to the rear wall to enable the space to visually and physically flow out into the rear garden.

A new bedroom and en-suite is carefully positioned at first floor level which creates a visually strong gable element framed in Oak. An enclosed balcony is included to the bedroom which also forms a canopied area for the folding sliding doors below.

Expanding a Beautiful Home

Our clients had already done a wonderful job refurbishing their house, but they reached a point where they simply needed more room. Our goal was to create that extra space while completely rethinking how the house connects to the outdoors. We didn’t just want to add rooms; we wanted to change how the whole property feels to live in.

The Transformation

The project covers every level of the home, featuring a loft conversion and both single and double-storey extensions at the rear. Outside, we completely redesigned the garden with a mix of new planting and stone terrace work. We also added a modern garden room that sits perfectly at the edge of a new swimming pool—the ultimate spot for relaxing.

Modern, Yet Hidden

Because the house is in a conservation area, we had to be clever with the design. We wanted the new extensions and the garden to look bold and modern, but we needed to respect the neighborhood. We carefully tucked the new additions away so that from the street, the house keeps its classic character, while the back reveals a private, contemporary sanctuary.

My clients bought this house with the intension of transforming it into their forever home before moving in.

A new roof has been designed to incorporate a series of pitched dormer roofs, a full height entrance structure, and a recessed balcony to the master bedroom suite. The long side garage has been partially incorporated into the living accommodation and a ground floor rear extension provides additional floor area for the open plan kitchen/dining/lounge areas.

The addition of insulation to the existing walls and high levels of insulation to the new roof will create a warm and cosy home.

As with all my designs, the interior and exterior spaces are visually and physically linked with large areas of glazed picture windows and openable glazed doors.

The transformation from a standard 70’s house into beautiful contemporary home will create real curb appeal and be a great addition to the street scene.

My Clients commissioned me to modernise their home so that it had a large open plan Kitchen/Living/Dining area that opened up onto their ample rear garden, a large master bedroom with wardrobe and en-suite, and to modernise the appearance of their home.

I achieved this by creating a new gable roof that extended their home and reflected the form of an existing gable roof.

The design completely transforms both the internal accommodation and the appearance of this home for my Clients to enjoy.

This project’s location is deep within a mature woodland area of Ravenshead.

The Client’s brief was to create a living area that had wide and sweeping views of their garden and the surrounding woodland.

Large glazed walls are incorporated that open up to provide free and easy movement between the inside and outside with a canopy supported on oak posts providing solar shading to the full height glazed zones. A balcony area above creates a location for incredible and uninterrupted views of the woodlands.

The external brickwork, guttering and eaves/soffit and all over-clad and replaced to provide the Client’s with a contemporary home nestled within the woods.

Located in a conservation area, it is important that new development does not harm the character of the area. Careful consideration was taken to create a modern ground floor extension and ancillary out-buildings which were either concealed from the public domain, or presented an appearance that was in-keeping with the area. It was also decided that to create more upper level bedroom space, the attic would be converted without the use of dormer windows which would affect the shape of the existing roof.

The South facing rear garden has been connected to the house via a very contemporary side extension which has large glazed patio doors. This area will form the heart of the living accommodation with the lounge/dining/kitchen areas flowing from the existing house, into the extension, and out onto the patio and garden beyond. The front entrance has also been relocated to bring people into the centre of the house. This opens up the ground floor layout and allows the rather grand central staircase to be major focal point.

Ancillary accommodation is also created on the location of an existing garage to provide a home study and gymnasium area which face out onto the private rear garden.

Due to multiple historic extensions, the existing house was rather jumbled up with little clarity to it’s appearnce. My design has unified and modernised the house’s appearance to create a home that the Clients can be proud of. Internal alterations are also being done to provide a much more usable layout for modern living.

We visited this house long before our Client’s purchased it so that we could assess whether it could be modernised and extended to provide them with the family home they dreamed of. It could.

The front entrance is being relocated to the existing gable to create a far more spacious and dramatic welcome home feeling. The rear is being extended to provide a substantial amount of open plan ground floor living space. Three new bedrooms are located to the first floor with the master bedroom having a walk-in wardrobe and en-suite shower room.

Part of the brief was to modernise the building in a sensitive manner so that it remained understated when viewed from the street. The real WOW factor starts when you open the front door and continues through to the large rear garden where the pitched roof extensions can be viewed.

My Clients asked me to create something special to the rear of their beautifully decorated and appointed house which is located in a conservation area.

Here, I’ve taken the existing lead clad pyramid roof structure and repeated it. Placed a frameless pitched roof light in between. I’ve then framed the area with solid Oak beams and posts with fully glazed infills to create visual strength, order and visual/physical connection between the interior and exterior spaces. Finally, the rear elevation is to have all it’s existing windows replaced with aluminium framed double glazing. The existing brick is also to be finished in a low maintenance through colour white render.

The effect will be to create a completely modernised rear appearance with additional internal floor area to the open plan kitchen/ dining/ day lounge area.

This project involves the recladding and an additional storey extension to an existing bungalow. Located in a Green Belt zone, there are restrictions to the area / volume increase to the original building permitable under the Planning Policies covering Green Belts. We put a case forward for an increase in area that was greater than that allowance and successfully gained planning consent.

This project involves the complete modernisation of a traditional red brick bungalow. The transformation will create a contemporary family home with 5 bedrooms, en-suites, a walk-in wardrobe, a snug, a home study, and a large open plan kitchen / dining / living area with views over the open countryside surrounding the property. Accessed from the first floor master bedroom, a balcony is included which will provide spectacular views across the country side and also a shaded cover to an area linking the garden to the ground floor living area. An existing modern conservatory and front porch has been retained and integrated into the design.

Our Clients had just bought this property when the cold winter weather descended. One winter was enough and they decided the house needed renovating and remodelling to create a warm and inspiring home.

The house will be over clad with insulated render and the existing plan reorganised to connect with their substantial garden which is located to the South. Unfortunately, the existing first floor accommodation only looks to the North so some major changes where required here. We plan to flip the bedrooms over and create two contemporary dormer windows and a feature glazed gable that will overlook their garden and allow sunlight into their home.

As architects in Nottingham, see what we can do for your property.

After remodelling and extending our Clients house a few years ago, they have now asked us to design a annex extension for them to be able to look after a elderly member of their family.

We designed an integrated structure which replaced an old conservatory to the side of the house. A key element of the design was to create an extension that was sympathetic to the main house in appearance and form, and not simply a bolt-on box. We achieved this by using the same pallet of materials and geometries. The extension was broken down into elements so that the pitched roof line wasn’t too high and so that the structure had it’s own strength. An existing Wisteria plant will be trained to grow over an Oak pergola structure at the front of the extension.

The result is an annex that is both integrated and sympathetic to the house while and forming a strong addition to it.

For this project, I was asked to remodel a 1980’s bungalow to create a home that is an attractive welcome home from the front, and opened up to the rear so that the views over the river and countryside can be enjoyed.

Internally, walls were removed to create an open plan kitchen/living/dining zone with separate rooms for a utility, pantry and watching sports television programs. Decking to the rear of the house will be level with the internal floor level so a seamless link between the interior and exterior can be enjoyed through the large folding sliding doors.

Located in a secluded plot with a large south facing rear garden, my Client’s asked me to reinvent this dormer bungalow to provide modern living open plan ground floor accommodation and larger bedrooms to the first floor.

By reconfiguring the roof on top of the original ground floor walls, a series of gables were created to give the house a strongly defined character. Balconies and a roof terrace to the master bedroom on the south elevation creates great places to sit and connect with the garden from the first floor.

The roof to the garage was also altered so that a home office is created with a staircase internally linking the office back to the house.

The existing and new walls will were finished in through-colour render, timber cladding and Oak frames to create a home that looks brand new and very smart.

The owners of this beautiful Victorian house wanted to reconfigure the internal kitchen space and create a modern and contemporary extension for the family to enjoy.

The key design requirement was to connect the house with their enclosed garden in as light and transparent a manner as possible. So with some early input from a structural engineer, I designed a glass-walled extension with only one small section of wall to hang the TV on.

An extended roof overhang is located over the south facing glass patio door elevation to provide solar shading to the interior on the hot summer days we occasionally get. The metal trimmed roof is also extended over the existing rear door to provide a porch area and to tie the extension back to the original house.

Low energy down lighters are located in the roof overhang to the 3 sides of the extension so that the building sparkles even on our long winter evenings.

This project involves the complete internal and external renovation on an existing bungalow to create a modern and functional home for our Clients.

Internally, the central area of the layout is being opened up to create better linkages between the rooms and to create a spacious entrance hall with a new full height porch. The gardens to the front and rear are being connected to the house by creating an orangery off the main living room to the front and wide folding sliding doors to the rear.

A side extension will provide an en-suite to the master bedroom and a rear side extension will relocate the central utility room to remove noise and create more space internally. The whole house will be over clad with insulated render and timber cladding to create a warm and damp free home.

A timber clad garden pod is also being created to provide a home office, garden room and a place for their children to do their school studies.

Purchased as a final home for retirement, my Clients wanted to modernise this dormer bungalow to provide a home that was functional, aspirational and low maintenance.

The warmth of sunlight and natural lighting to the interior were important factors so the internal room locations where carefully considered and an angled rear extension designed to capture the late evening sun. A simple pallet of through-colour render, untreated timber cladding which will naturally silver, and large areas of glass will help to achieve their requirements. A new entrance to the front of the house with reshaped windows and cladding creates a far more contemporary home, providing a more welcoming approach home and far more presence on the street.

Initially, my Clients were unsure about what could be done to open up their house and make it more family friendly. After a couple of design meetings, a plan and form was developed that achieved all their aspirations for how they wanted to live in the house.

By using natural materials such as stone and timber, a contemporary addition to this regular house has been designed. Light will flood into the interior via roof lights and high level strip windows that give the impression that the roof is floating above the walls. A deep roof over hang has been incorporated to shade the interior from direct sunlight to avoid over heating. The roof over hang also acts as a shelter to the veranda for the clients to sit outside even on rainy days. Internally, the rear and an internal wall was removed to open up the interior of the house and link it with the extension and the garden to the south.

As a second phase development to the The Knoll project, we were commissioned to convert an out building that historically had been the centre for the local scouts and cubs. The out building is to be converted to provide ancillary accommodation to the main house for guests and family to stay on an occasional basis.

To create the spaces required, two of the existing trusses have been strengthened to allow the bottom ties to be removed to create head height to a raised level bedroom which has the integral garage located below. The remainder of the accommodation is full height to expose the timber trusses and create volume. Reflecting the location existing trusses, the external wall has been opened up and large panels of oak framed glass inserted to bring light into and views out of the interior. By carefully considering design choices, this project is being done under Permitted Development Rights which means the Client could start the refurbishment straight away.

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