Home extensions

A new room starts with the existing building.

An extension connects new construction to a house that already carries loads, sheds rain and moves with its environment. The design needs to consider that junction, the openings into the existing home and the support below the new walls and frame.

Small domestic alterations still deserve careful engineering. The focus is on what carries the load, what will change and the information your contractor needs to price and plan the work. For home extensions, the first conversation is about your objectives, what is known about the building and what needs to be established.

What the appointment can include

• Review of rear, side, wraparound or double-storey proposals
• Structural layout for agreed new and altered elements
• Consideration of openings into the existing house
• Foundation design within the agreed information and investigation scope
• Coordination of relevant Building Regulations details

The written quotation will identify the actual deliverables and exclusions for your project.

Questions to resolve

How will the new roof and floor loads be supported?

Start with the available drawings and observations. Where the information is incomplete, agree the necessary survey or investigation before making a design assumption.

What needs to be investigated before foundation design?

Consider how the proposed work connects to the existing property and any specialist design. Record interfaces and limitations in the project brief.

Where does the new envelope meet the existing house?

Make the responsibility clear in writing. A coordinated project needs a shared understanding of who provides, checks and uses each part of the information.

Explore an illustrative project

Our concept study explains the design questions without presenting generated imagery as evidence of client work.