Radical Rebuild
OB Architecture
7 years ago
The Wrap House replaced a small, tired 1950s bungalow sat among a row of equally undistinguished single-storey properties.
The replacement house had to respect the height of the surrounding bungalows; by manipulating the levels and stepping the building down, in spite of being a storey higher than the neighbouring properties, the flat roof parapet levels sit below the ridge line of the adjoining houses.
The house was constructed for a relatively modest £1,500/m2, challenging the notion that bespoke modern houses cost from £2,000/m2 upwards.
The Wrap House has featured on the More4 series 'Building the Dream': Series 3, Episode 2: Kent
Wrap House · More Info
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Comments (41)Definitely agree with Design7, the added bonus with fibre cement cladding are: - no maintenance (unlike timber weatherboarding or painting render) - insulation can be added between existing render and fibre cement cladding - an almost instant improvement by adding texture to a very flat facade The risk you face by going with a bold colour over the whole rendered front of your house is that being such a flat and (no offence) uninspiring property, you will only make the situation a lot worse. By adding the texture to the first floor, you can then go bold underneath should you wish to. The other option that no one has suggested yet, will depend on the construction of your house (might be concrete blocks rather than brickwork) and if you do have to strip off the render and start again, it might be worth seeing if you have desirable brickwork beneath it. If so you can either acid strip the brickwork to clean it off or paint the bricks. I would suggest stripping the render off the ground floor and either going for a rendering or cladding to the first floor. I can imagine for a contemporary look, off white with grey Windows and doors, or for a softer cottage style go for a pale cream and mushroom/taupe Windows and doors....See Moredesign help for our new home
Comments (21)For 40k choose downstairs and don't touch upstairs, you haven't the budget to amend both and definitely not a roof. Maybe start with something like this, it's the easiest layout to attain:- The one below involves taking out the Fireplace, but leaves you entering straight in to the kitchen and with a Utility off the kitchen, which is better all round. As Jonathan says if and when you have more funds add a garage if you want one....See MoreHelp with ground floor layout please...... playroom, snug or study?
Comments (19)We did love some of the suggestions above… but stuck with our original plan! Although we did change the kitchen layout from U-shaped to ”farmhouse” style, with the table in the middle and sink under the window overlooking the garden. The old dining room has become an office with two desks - partly due to COVID and the need to work from home and homeschool etc! We have also moved a lot of the children’s toy storage in here although they still bring things into the main lounge to play where there’s more room. At 8 and 5, they also actually now keep and play with a lot of toys in their rooms, so I think the old dining room will remain as more of a computer and homework room - it’s nice being able to shut the door! The ”study” on the plan is very much a workshop/gym/play room for my husband! We didnt want to sacrifice that space. It might turn into a teenage den later on perhaps, or even a downstairs bedroom for my Nan. The small upstairs bedroom has become a second office as I’m also still working from home (and my husband has too many meetings downstairs!). It houses our sofa bed too so acts as a spare room and my space to do yoga and sewing. Overall, we are pleased with how everything turned out. We quite like the option to have space away from each other and the flexibility to change the use of the different rooms. We do all spend a lot time together in either the kitchen or main lounge as plenty of space in both....See MoreNew ground floor plan, please criticize my indecisiveness..
Comments (23)I have had time to digest what you all said. Yes, that's a hallway. ... I caved! haha ... but at least it's not a pointless one at 1.8m we currently bear. We like our open central living area, and dining at the back of it, and will do so while ever there is no "upstairs". I have drawn in where a bedroom used to be in the living room. I've slimmed the bathrooms right back, to one with a bath, one with a shower, distributed the sizes to not interfere with the laundry door being opened up if the second bathroom was removed, and lined up the "supporting" walls between the bathroom and "our room". The hallway will offer the privacy for the end room that opens onto the garden, and at the same time it can be seen as the master with en-suite... not that we will use it for that. The location of the bathroom is and has always been awkward to get to, requiring a long walk... but at least there will be TWO... but I may very well continue to place the door off the living room and not the hall due to wishing to make the access easier for guests and the 3 bedrooms it serves. All this does bear resemblance to the original layout, but should stick with what works and not fight this awkward house too much. The additional bonus is it is the minimum building cost and effort entailed. I believe it scratches some itches in regards to better bedroom sizes, segregating the placement of bathrooms a little more, and the future flexibility of moving the living area towards the garden end of the house....See More
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