Kiln Ride

Location: Berkshire

Structural Engineer: Spark Structures

Contractor: Exact Building

The original 1950’s bungalow was owned by our client's parents who had to downsize. The client saw an investment opportunity to develop the bungalow, her childhood home, by transforming it into a large family home for sale.

We worked closely with our structural engineer to create a solution that maximises the use of the existing building and minimises the use of additional materials. The original foundations were able to take an additional storey allowing the project to keep within the original footprint. All demolition materials were checked, cleaned and stored for reuse wherever possible, this included the roof tiles, bricks and the block paving driveway.

Only four concrete foundation pads were required to support a lightweight steel structure that supports the predominantly timber extension that has been insulated to meet current new build regulation u-values. The new first floor includes four double bedrooms, two ensuites, a family bathroom and a small loft space. The sloped clerestory ceilings incorporate rooflights that help to create open light filled spaces and a large landing window frames the surrounding woodland. 

The ground floor was completely reworked to create a large living room, open dining and kitchen, with a utility room, shower room and a study. Insulated plasterboard was applied to the internal face of all external walls and the existing cavity was checked and refilled to improve the ground floor wall u-values. Underfloor heating was integrated into ground and first floors to allow the client to switch over to an Air Source Heat Pump in the future without having to change radiator capacity.

We believe that this deep retrofit project can prove to be a model example of how similar bungalows could be brought up to current standards whilst utilising as much of the existing fabric as possible.

Kiln Ride has been featured in RIBA J’s online sustainability series. The article can be viewed here.