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Architects: David Blaikie Architects
- Area: 68 m²
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Photographs:Paul Zanre
Text description provided by the architects. Background
Our clients have a strong affinity with Scandinavia – Mrs Penman is Swedish. Their children are being brought up bilingually.
Buying their first house together in Blackhall made a lot of sense with a family on the horizon and while the houses can be a little cramped there is always room for expansion. This 68M2, semi-detached single storey house is very typical of the suburban housing stock in this and many other areas of Edinburgh. This house has the benefit of a 50M long back garden to provide the setting for a dramatic addition to provide a light filled space for a young family to grow up in. At briefing stage, their storey board lent heavily on contemporary Scandinavian architecture – a route natural to us.
Creating a new cooking : eating : living space and first floor bedroom suite
The form of the extension was developed to catch the sunlight from early morning and throughout the day and finally reflect the last of the evening sun down into the double storey height living space off the vast sloping ceiling plane. The extension and development of the attic space more than doubles the floor area of the house – all on a very tight budget.
Initially conceived with a wrapping of standing seam zinc, cost considerations forced a change to reclaimed natural slate and thermally modified timber cladding to the roof and walls. A minimal steel frame provides rigidity to the structure to allow the large areas of glazing and cantilevering floor out into the garden. Careful reconsideration of the geometry allowed 30% of the initial steel arrangement to be designed out to further save costs.
The large volumes of the project required to be dynamically modelled to satisfy planning overshadowing policies. The reflex angles give order and control to the plan form while addressing key views from the entrance door through the living space and down the length of the rear garden and key sun angle. The soaring 5.1M tall frameless glazed apex corner cantilevers out over the garden giving a lightness to the massing. The extension is invisible from the street side of this semi-detached house but explodes out of the rear elevation in a wholly unexpected way.
The slate covered roof and timber clad north wall shield family life from the elements and neighbouring properties. The expanse of glass welcomes in the sunlight and reveals views over the large garden towards the wooded slopes of Corstorphine Hill.
