Old Police House

+ Orsett, Essex

We were delighted to be approached by our clients on this project. It is a fantastic turn-of-the-century character home, that as the name suggests was the former village Police Station. Robustly built but full of charm and period detail, we were tasked with revitalising this humble home. Encouraged to embrace the traditional, whilst intervening with the modern to create a new family and entertaining spaces. We employed clever design interventions to make the best use of existing spaces, whilst tackling the larger extension requirements.

Immediately the existing inefficient conservatory had to go! The ‘Conservatory killers’ strike again. This space was too cold in winter, too hot in summer and as a result, was plunged into a permanently artificially shaded arrangement. The floor area was wasted with an undervalued connection to a beautiful mature garden.

Following our strong belief in contrasting old and new, so that each can be celebrated, we prepared a design that looked to capitalise on natural light and the relationship to existing areas of the house, with the development of an unashamedly modern build. Essentially a single-storey extension to the rear and side, staggered in both depth and height, provides a new kitchen and dining space. An adjacent smaller linked portion to the rear extends the existing home’s lounge space that is linked to the wider newly built form. The original client brief asked for a separate lounge but this would have left the existing space landlocked with poor natural light. By extending the space we were able to make a soft connection back to the dining and kitchen space, which whilst not a fully open plan capitalised on the strengths of the original floor layout. The plan shape of the extension looked to respect neighbours and provide a private breakfast courtyard.

Our choice of materials made in agreement with our clients looked to provide multiple functions. The use of stainless steel was to create a strong modern framed aesthetic, with an extremely thin overhang that appears refined yet strong. Timber-clad reveals and soffits add a touch of warmth and intrigue, whilst on the less private elevations to the front of the house and somewhat hidden elevation to the neighbour, brick matching the existing home is used to soften impact and integrate. The smaller extension to the rear required its own identity so as to not be completely dominated by the larger kitchen and dining space. For this we chose to use stainless steel exclusively, maintaining the material consistent with the light touch offered by the larger space.

All in all the scheme delivers a superb family-friendly, overtly modern addition to this beautiful house, affording our clients the space for their family to grow and stay in the village they adore.

Photo Credit: Ricksouzaphoto.com

For further inspiration see our Warminster Road project or check out our Instagram feed.