Statement kitchen extension,
Bradford on Avon
Location Bradford on Avon
Completion date 2019
Architects Studio Hearth
A modern statement in a historic hybrid
The House is a grade II listed building dating from the 17th century. It was extended in the 18th century, in the early 19th century, in the mid 19th century and finally in the late 19th century. Each time the work was done in the style of that period, creating a fascinating Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian hybrid.
The new owners wanted another extension, this time a kitchen space, and clearly it had to be modern – but without damaging or compromising what had gone before. And what had gone before had a certain grandeur, so the pressure was on. The client wanted to see ideas, and good ones.
The chosen design is a box clad in copper shingles over charred timber cladding (a timeless Japanese technique), sat on a stonework plinth. It is a clear statement of contemporary confidence. No Victorian pastiches here.
The glazing is largely frameless, floor to ceiling, and dramatic. The oak used above windows and around the door tie in with the oak detailing inside the kitchen. The asymmetric roofline of the extension echoes older rooflines that can be seen above and behind the new kitchen.
We made a further dramatic gesture. The garden contains a large walled garden, originally the house’s kitchen garden but no longer needed to provide food. We decided to knock a hole in it. Why? Because it blocked the house from the rest of the garden. We needed to reconnect it, and that’s exactly what our break in the wall did. The new opening echoes the new extension, at the same time we reinvented the walled garden as a pleasure garden.
