ADDINGTON

When very dear friends asked if they should “love it or list it” it was clear that their existing property had ample opportunity to become the home they dreamed of. The existing building was already a sizeable Georgian townhouse, set over four floors with 6 bedrooms, however its’ habitable family rooms felt modest by modern standards and were disconnected from the generous rear garden amenity area. A dilapidated garage at the foot of the garden also presented an opportunity to create a home working space ancillary to the house, with storage under due to the site topography. While not Listed the building is located on the edge of the Margate Conservation Area, on a prominent corner site where the rear facade is as visible as the front.

With a few simple key architectural moves the property has been fundamentally reimagined to the lower two floors. The lower ground floor rear lean-to extension was removed and rebuilt to an enlarged footprint, enclosing a small rear lightwell, above which we were able to construct a raised ground floor rear extension with terrace and ‘amphitheatre’ stepped garden access. This brought improved visual and physical connectivity to the rear garden at ground level, as well as creating a more generous living, dining and kitchen arrangement with abundant natural light and cross ventilation. The basement was transformed into a luxe cinema room and play area for the couple’s young children, inspired by the owner’s experience of similar spaces when growing up in Canada. The architecture of the garden studio building and the ground floor rear extension sit in harmony facing and addressing one another, adopting the same Russwood black timber cladding and detailing to create homogeneity and consistency.

The custom designed kitchen, hallway and boot room joinery allowed the storage to be fully tailored and optimised throughout, improving the owner’s daily ergonomics.

The project completed in the early 2026..

The excellent photography is by James Tarry.