11 / 11 House extension
The Cottage
- Location
- Saffron Walden
- Project
- House extension
- Status
- Completed
- Year
- 2021
- House
- Period cottage
- Setting
- Edge of Saffron Walden, Essex
- Scope
- Full-width rear extension · Internal reconfiguration
- Feature
- Glazed oriel-bay window
A closer connection to the countryside.
A full-width rear extension gives a period cottage a light-filled kitchen and dining room, with an adjoining playroom for a growing family.
A glazed oriel window frames the landscape. The contemporary addition is carefully scaled to sit alongside the original cottage and its rural setting.
Brief & Context
The existing cottage was well loved but constrained by cellular rooms and a limited connection to the garden. A growing family needed more space – above all a large kitchen-dining area to act as the heart of the home, with a separate but connected playroom.
Given the cottage’s traditional character and semi-rural setting, the design had to deliver a modern living environment without overwhelming or diluting the original building.
Design Response
A full-width rear extension reorganises the ground floor around a generous open-plan kitchen and dining space, visually and physically connected to the garden. An adjoining playroom adds flexibility for family life while keeping a sense of separation where needed.
The extension is deliberately legible as a contemporary intervention, yet its proportions, detailing and materials are carefully considered to sit comfortably alongside the cottage.
“An extension that feels calm, coherent and rooted in its context, enhancing the original cottage rather than competing with it.”
Architectural Features
The key element is a fully glazed oriel-bay window that projects subtly into the garden, framing expansive views across the surrounding countryside and drawing daylight deep into the plan. Large areas of glazing along the rear elevation open the kitchen and dining space directly onto the garden, encouraging year-round use.
Materials & Character
A deliberately restrained palette complements the cottage while clearly expressing the extension as a modern addition, allowing landscape views and natural light to define the interior. The result feels calm, coherent and rooted in its context – enhancing the original cottage rather than competing with it.
