A good original layout and well proportioned rooms, gives this surprisingly compact 1930’s semi-detached home scope for adaption with modest interventions. A new 8sqm first floor extension sits over an existing 6sqm kitchen extension. Both are timber clad and painted a single unifying colour. A change in direction of the cladding is a subtle nod to the different stages of development.
Refurbishment & Extension in Dublin 7
This project revisits one of the earliest we were involved with. A single storey 6sqm extension was added to this 1930’s 3 bed semi-detached home in Dublin 7 in 2004, shortly after the current owner bought the house with friends. At the time, the additional space was enough to accommodate the kitchen and dining in the same room, freeing up another room downstairs for use as a bedroom. On a tight budget, other essential refurbishment work was also undertaken to make the house more comfortable.
Now living in the house with a young family, the homeowner wanted to build upon some of the earlier refurbishment work while also adapting the house for a different set of priorities.
Upstairs, a new 8sqm timber clad extension sits over the existing kitchen extension, turning the box bedroom into a double bedroom and allowing for a larger family bathroom.
Three similarly sized double bedrooms now give the family more options in how they allocate and use the bedrooms and they currently have a more useable spare room. With a foldout double bed, the spare room is currently a home office.
The new and existing timber-clad extensions are painted a single unifying colour, with a change in direction of the timber cladding a subtle nod to the different stages of development.
Downstairs, a new large opening connects the reception rooms and a new set of pocket doors allows them to be separated when needed. The front room is currently used as a playroom and the living room at the back opens onto a new exposed concrete patio. A new bespoke timber door and window set leads out to the patio, taking its cue from the timber door and window set originally in this location.
Elsewhere, opportunities were taken to make the best use of the other rooms in the house. Bespoke joinery was fitted in every room, bar the children’s bedroom. In the playroom the joinery also accommodates a cloakroom for the house and in the ‘spare’ room the fitted units provide overflow wardrobe space for other bedrooms.
With the bespoke joinery, a mix of open shelving and enclosed storage is used to provide options for the storing or displaying of different items. Plywood shelves with painted doors are used in the reception rooms to add a warm and tactile quality to the spaces while a more neutral colour palette in used upstairs.
Work undertaken to improve the energy efficiency of the house has significantly reduced the family’s energy consumption while maintaining the inherent character of the house, something that was important to them. This work included new windows, insulation under the ground floor, additional attic insulation, a new boiler and upgraded heating controls and the elimination of draughts along with the installation of a modern decentralized ventilation system.
Photography by Richard Hatch, ©.