It can be tricky finding the available space to meet your family’s expanding needs. Sometimes, however, the renovation gods are on your side. Prior to upgrade, this residence already sat high on the land, so the option of digging down without lifting the home up was a way forward.
This paved the way to the renovation of the grand traditional villa, says architect Matt Brew.
“The residence had had earlier work done, probably in the 1980s,” says Brew. “The interior was tidy but, typical of a home of this period, the rooms were enclosed, with the living, dining and kitchen all separate from each other.
“The house definitely needed modernising, with connections improved to the outdoors – and the garden also needed re-imagining. Plus, the garage had been sited to the rear of the back yard. The set-up wasn’t particularly liveable.”
To address this, the homeowners’ wanted to introduce an open-plan living/dining/kitchen space at the rear, connected to a new outdoor terrace suitable for entertaining.
“Before reworking any rooms in the home, we first brought the garage in under the house – digging out the ground rather than raising the house. This labour-intensive move had two major advantages,” says Brew.
“Essentially, it reclaimed the use of the garden for the family and, along with the convenience of internal garaging, it also allowed for a downstairs guest suite and study.”