Dentists Pia and Stuart bought an old dental surgery with plans to transform it back into a beautiful period house with landscaped gardens.

Pia wanted a jewellery studio with a view of the garden, Stuart longed for a home for his Jaguar XJS, and their daughter dreamed of a self contained flat in the basement she could call her own.

Dyer Grimes Architects were briefed to develop the property into a modern, bright and spacious family home, incorporating a contemporary basement and side extension

The former Dental Building was ‘functionally’ set-up, consisting of a number of gloomy cramped rooms, linked together by dark narrow corridors. The entrance hall was partially blocked by the main stairs.

The cellar had a very low ceiling and was partially flooded. There was also an existing glass extension to the rear of the property that was very old and outdated.

As part of the refurbishment our client wanted to create a ‘bright and airy’ self-contained basement flat with its own access for their daughter.

The garden was to be completely redesigned and flood defences built in.

We took the decision to demolish and redevelop the rear of the house which incorporated a two storey extension to match the existing style.

We completely transformed the internal layout of the house. The original reception area and all the internal walls were replaced with new steel beams which created an outstanding living /dining / kitchen space. The introduction of a minimalist staircase dramatically opened-up the entrance hall area and made it a focal point of the house with a glass roof above.

We successfully obtained planning permission to build the new basement and media room which featured an invisible glass balustrade that allowed sunlight to permeate throughout.

A glorious new landscape garden was designed which ‘invisibly’ incorporated the required flood barrier protections.