Knowle Hill Cottage

Proposal for a new first floor conservatory on a Grade II listed Tudor Cottage, in the village of Ulcombe, just outside Maidstone.

The access to the first floor bedrooms currently involves crawling through loft space of only around 1.5m in head height. Our brief was expand this attic corridor to full height, and where possible provide additional room to the house. We decided to create an entirely new room visioned by the concept of a first floor conservatory. This bespoke structure, oak framed and lead covered whilst similar in character to a garden room of the same era as the house, clearly defines itself as a new addition through its elevated position, recessed position, and materials.

The existing house had no capability of supporting any additional structures, so a complex series of beams means that the extension is entirely self supported within the external frame of the cottage. This has allowed us to site the extension moreso in it's own era by simplifying the external structure beyond what would previously have been evident in a construction of this nature.

We have just received planning permission for this and hope to start construction in 2005.