Berkhamsted House, Herts

A striking glazed contemporary extension to a Victorian terraced house within a Conservation Area in Berkhamsted.

Kitsbury Road is Victorian terrace in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. To the rear the houses have an alternating two storey half-width profile, typical of the kind. Whilst the front of the terrace remains largely original, various piecemeal single storey additions and conservatories have been added previously. David has undertaken work to several similar properties in the area.

Design options were carefully developed and discussed with the Dacorum Council’s Conservation team.

In essence the scheme consists of a glazed screen that runs between the existing party walls with a simple flat roof and glazed rooflight above.

The eaves of the roof have been carefully detailed to mask the depth of the flat roof to provide a neat edge to the rainwater gulley. Similarly at the ground, the floor level is continuous.

On entering the house long views of the garden are enabled. These are emphasised by an uninterrupted concrete worktop that runs the length of the scheme and emerges into the garden where the worktop becomes a barbecue and seating area. The whole of this zone is top lit via continuous rooflights, equal in width to the worktop.

Berkhamsted House was published in Virginia McLeod’s Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture’ and by Homebuilding & Renovating magazine.

As one moves through the ground floor the spaces of the house can be interpreted as a series of zones, each becoming less enclosed.

Living and sitting areas at the front of the house mask an open plan kitchen. This in turn feeds onto internal and external dining areas. Finally, long formal planters draw the eye to natural planting in the distance.

Photography by Steve Lancefield