This problem was a function of its diagram. Being a typical
terraced house with the entrance at raised ground floor
meant an entire level was set aside for reception rooms that
were seldom used.
One was a de facto home office and the other was a
dumping ground. Accessing the kitchen and garden at lower
ground level – the heart of the house – required entering at
the raised ground level and then going down again.
We said, “Why not make another entrance on the side of
the house, one that directly accesses the lower ground level
between the kitchen and the family room?”.
That way the upstairs living rooms could be part of the
private realm.
The circulation pattern needed to change. The diagram
needed to be altered. We utilised the narrow side passage to make a slender,
2-storey extension to the side of the house, connecting the
lower level to the street, and creating service spaces that
link back into the main house through doorways in the
fireplace alcoves.
If we could retrofit a new entrance directly into garden
level then we could refurbish the raised ground level into
something more useful. The extension also allows access directly to the garden from
the street, in case you want to go straight from the front to
the back without going inside the house.
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