An open-plan ground floor to reconnect a family.

Opening up to the garden

The homeowners could have added full-width glazed doors across the back of the kitchen, but that would have meant losing useful wall space for kitchen cupboards.

Instead, they chose a sliding door beside a window, keeping the kitchen connected to the garden without giving up useful storage.

Bringing in more daylight

Two large Velux roof-lights were added above the kitchen, angled to bring more natural light across the room.

Facing into the room

The sink and dishwasher are built into the island, with storage and breakfast-bar seating on the other side.

Now when someone is washing up, loading the dishwasher or preparing food at the island, they can still interact with the family and stay part of what is happening around them.

Living in the house during the work

The family stayed in the house throughout the project, so the floors above still needed to be usable while the ground floor became a building site.

A temporary partition and lockable door were fitted at the bottom of the stairs. This kept the building work separate from the occupied part of the house and left a clear route from the front door to the staircase.

A small temporary kitchen was set up upstairs with a fridge and electric hob. The washing machine was moved into the upstairs bathroom, and the bathroom sink became the washing-up area until the ground floor could be used again.

Underfloor heating and more wall space

With the ground floor already undergoing a major renovation, the homeowners decided to add wet underfloor heating as part of the work.

The original timber floor was taken out and rebuilt with insulation and heating underneath, rather than building over it and raising the floor level.

The heating now runs across the ground floor, spreading warmth more evenly, reducing cold areas and freeing up wall space that would otherwise be needed for radiators.

A decision made during the build

Weekly meetings helped the homeowners review progress and make decisions as the build moved on. It was through those conversations that they chose to add underfloor heating across the ground floor.

Keeping the house safe as walls came out

To create one open room, large sections of the walls between the old rooms had to come out. Those walls were helping support the house above, so the weight had to be held safely while the new structure was fitted.

Some of the existing brickwork was also in poor condition, so the temporary support was planned carefully with the structural engineer before the walls were removed.

The larger parts of the new frame were brought into the house first, so nothing holding the house up would need to be moved later just to get them into position.

What the base price covers

The price covers the full core build, including the labour and site management needed to take the extension from groundworks through to a structurally complete, weather-protected, insulated, plastered and serviced space.

The core build also comes with our workmanship warranty.

See a breakdown of what’s included

What isn’t in the base price

Some parts of the finished project sit outside the £75,000 core build and are added once the design is confirmed.

These include the kitchen, finished flooring, wet underfloor heating, aluminium or timber doors and windows, and any council permit required to place skips on the road.

An insurance-backed warranty is also available if wanted, with the cost based on the project value and type of work.

What can change the base price

The £75,000 base assumes standard foundations, straightforward drainage, normal access and the standard structural package included in the core build.

If the survey or structural design shows that the house needs deeper foundations, drainage alterations, more complex steelwork or unusually difficult access, we’ll show the extra cost clearly.

What this home added

This Lewisham project went beyond the core build. The homeowners rebuilt the existing ground floor with insulation and wet underfloor heating, added engineered oak herringbone flooring, fitted the new kitchen and chose aluminium glazing for their back doors and windows.

Today, the new floor and wet underfloor heating would be priced at £140/m². The kitchen is priced from the final kitchen drawings, while the aluminium sliding door and window are quoted to the chosen size and specification.

The extension wasn’t the biggest change

The side passage added relatively little floor area. What made the bigger difference was that bringing it into the house gave enough extra width to rethink the rest of the ground floor.

That same idea can apply to other homes where a side passage is rarely used but the rooms inside feel cramped or disconnected.

It won’t always be the right answer. If the house itself is small and there’s plenty of garden to work with, a larger rear or wraparound extension may create more useful space.

Decisions don’t stop when the build starts

Even with the main design agreed, some decisions come up once work is underway. Weekly meetings gave the homeowners a chance to see how the project was progressing and make decisions as it developed.

In this case, those conversations led to underfloor heating being added across the ground floor.

You’re letting builders into your home

For 10 out of the 12 weeks, this family was living upstairs while major work was happening downstairs. The team were inside their home every day, around their belongings and their two young children.

Kate shared in her review how anxious they were about living through the renovation, and how much difference the people doing the work made to that experience.

For the family, it wasn’t only about the finished result. It also mattered that they felt comfortable with the people in their home every day, and that the house was left safe at the end of each evening.

The homeowners chose us again

Since completing this renovation, the homeowners have invited us back for smaller upgrades and repairs around the property, including converting their en-suite into a wet room. We’re also currently building them a pod loft conversion.

12 weeks is still 12 weeks

12 weeks can look short on a project timeline, however it feels very different when the ground floor of the home you’re living in is a building site.

Temporary access, somewhere to cook, somewhere to wash clothes and a clear separation between the work and the occupied parts of the house all need thinking about before construction starts.

Before work begins, it’s worth agreeing exactly how those everyday things will work. If you choose to work with us, we’ll plan them through with you in advance, so you’re not figuring them out once the build is already underway.