Camden Rear Extension

The kitchen of this Camden terrace was the busiest room in the house — and the smallest. A galley from the 1980s, cut off from the garden by a cold side return. The owners wanted one generous room where cooking, homework and Sunday lunch could all happen at once.

The Brief

Wrap the side return, push three metres into the garden, and double the kitchen — that was the ask. But the real brief was about light: the middle of the house was dark at midday, and the owners did not want a bigger room that made it darker still. And one condition was not negotiable — the two mature trees at the end of the garden had to stay, roots untouched.

The Design

The answer was a wrap-around extension with a structural glass roof over the old side return. Most extensions make the middle room the casualty; here the glass roof turns it into the brightest part of the plan. The new rear wall opens the full width of the garden elevation with slim-frame sliding doors, and the floor runs level from the hallway to the threshold, so the garden reads as part of the room.

To protect the trees, the structural engineer designed the steelwork to land on two pad foundations only, both positioned clear of the root protection zones. No piling, no root pruning — and no argument with the council’s tree officer.

Planning & Party Walls

The scheme was designed to sit within householder permitted development, confirmed by a lawful development certificate — the fastest, lowest-risk route for a rear extension of this size. Approved first time. Party wall notices for both neighbours, the schedules of condition and the awards were all handled in-house alongside the structural package.

On Site

Groundworks and pads in the first fortnight, steels and the glass roof by week four, weathertight by week five. The owners cooked in a temporary kitchen in the front room for exactly six weeks — we know, because the site diary logged the day the new hob went live. The build finished eleven days ahead of the nine-week programme.

The Project, In Pictures

We were braced for months of chaos. Instead the neighbours came round to say how tidy the site was.

The owners, Camden

The Result

One open room across the whole rear of the house: kitchen, dining table and a window seat looking down the garden, with the two trees exactly where they have always been — now framed by the glazing like a picture. The owners’ verdict after the first Sunday lunch: the house finally has a room the whole family fits in.