PLANNING ADVICE
Architect Greg Toon reconfigures a shared terraced house
Soaring property prices mean siblings are often forced to pool resources and buy a home together. Claire Ellicott, 32, and her sister, Christina, 28, together own a small, two-bedroom late-Victorian terrace within a conservation area in Nunhead in south-east London. However, when Christina’s boyfriend moved in, things became awkward as the bathroom can only be accessed via one of the bedrooms. Claire and Christina are therefore considering a rear extension that will retain the Victorian proportions but open up the layout.
THE SET-UP
Dealing with the lack of a second bathroom, or even toilet, was a priority for the sisters. The only bathroom is positioned at the rear of the first floor, off Claire’s bedroom, so Christina and her boyfriend have to traipse through Claire’s bedroom whenever they need to use it.
The sisters’ plans for the downstairs rear extension show a new shower room and toilet, but its position blocks the garden view, which is a bit of a waste. Also, the proposed toilet opens onto the kitchen/ dining area, a scenario that many people don’t like.
THE SOLUTION
Moving the bathroom to a central location on the first floor, so there was access from both bedrooms is the way forward. This is made difficult however by the staircase, which runs across the width of the house. It also prevents the front living room from connecting to the rear kitchen/dining spaces.
I propose a new winder staircase that would free up space upstairs and down. It gives the option of a central bathroom upstairs, links the front and back living areas, and makes space for a downstairs shower room in the darker
part of the house. This would allow for light-filled living spaces in the rear extension.
Instead of a conventional hall-located staircase, the new layout would have the stair accessed via the front living room. This would be tricky if the house had three storeys as there would need to be a fire-escape route that avoids passing through rooms. But the sisters’ loft space is too low to be converted, and raising the roof in a conservation area is a no-go, so we’re free to mess with the position of the staircase.
In this new design, the front living room is linked to the rear spaces, but sliding doors can reintroduce a degree of separation, making the living room feel cosy in winter.
While many people would look to open up a rear kitchen/ dining space, my design retains some of the proportions and partial walls of the existing building. This creates a ‘broken-plan’ space, with small zones and a sense of privacy that is ideal for sharers.
There would be two eating spaces – one at the back of the house overlooking the garden, and a dining table in the kitchen zone – a sitting area with a woodburner (as an alternative to the living room) and a few worktops, so Claire and Christina can cook without tripping over each other.
Between the kitchen and the extension the openings are former windows with the sills dropped to the ground. By keeping the old external walls as exposed brickwork, the space expresses the house’s original form and history.
The side extension has a glazed roof over the kitchen area but for the rear extension, I’ve shown a part-solid roof and French doors to the garden. To maximise light, there’s a fixed glazed panel between those doors, but this could be a solid wall to suit the period feel.
THE VERDICT ‘This is a neat solution,’ says Claire. ‘We had considered a new staircase, but not in this position. This would give us more space and, crucially, stop Christina bounding through my room at the crack of dawn.’