Our Client wished to accommodate an additional en-suite bedroom in the loft space of his Victorian house. The house was located in Wandsworth Conservation Area. The only way we could achieve the headroom required was to re build the roof, discretely increasing its angle and marginally raising the eaves height. We decided to raise the front wall by just a few courses, rebuild the roof at a steeper pitch and add a dormer to the rear slope. Despite of the fact that the Council's Conservation Officer welcomed the idea before the applications for planning permission and conservation area consent were submitted the Council members refused it. We advised the client to appeal and selected the Informal Hearing route. In due course the appeal was successful. At the construction phase, the brickwork of new corbel courses and jointing were so carefully matched as to be indistinguishable. The new roof covering is natural slate instead of the old concrete tiles and there is no sign that any alteration has taken place. I acted as a project architect for Capstudios and led this project from inception to completion.

Client: Private
Location: Battersea, London