Contemporary Living in an Old Home: Part Two

Read part one for advice on planning permission, design, materials and costs

Interiors: Old and New

If the period interiors of your home have already been badly damaged by previous alterations, or if the house is in poor condition and needs taking back to the brickwork and reconstructing, then there is nothing wrong with removing the remaining details such as plaster mouldings, skirting, architrave, panel doors etc. and rebuilding the interiors in a contemporary style. Where there is detail worth preserving, however, resist removing items of historical or architectural value and instead restore what is there and reserve the more minimal, contemporary aesthetic for your new extension. Providing you get the fundam - entals right, such as size and shape of the rooms, the relationship and flow between different rooms or spaces, and the position and location of the windows and doorways, you can still create interiors that work, combining new and old to create an eclectic look that is truly unique to your home.

“When undertaking an element of contemporary design within a period home, the key is to be ‘honest’,” says Hugo Tugman, founder of Architect Your Home. “It is important to understand that a great deal of the ‘ornament’ in Classical design is not there simply as ornament at all, but was principally about making the interiors easier for the builders to complete. For example, architraves, skirting boards and cornices are quite simply neat ways for a builder to cover up difficult junctions that would otherwise crack. Architraves covered the junction of a wooden door frame and plastered wall, skirting boards concealed the tricky junction of wall and floor, and cornices hid the inevitable cracks between wall and ceiling. Modern design has not done away with such things wilfully, but the technology available in such materials as plasterboard has meant that there are other, visually simpler ways of making these building details.

“The ‘modern movement’ of the 20th century taught us that form follows function — this is not a lesson that can be unlearnt. So let the new work do its task, simply and beautifully without unnecessary trimmings. The clarity of the new will enhance the richness of the original and genuinely old.” If your home is not listed, you are completely free to remodel the existing layout to open it up and create a more freeflowing contemporary layout — which many people think suits modern family life. You must, however, consult an engineer who will calculate the size of steelwork and any columns or piers required.

ABOVE: Modern design and materials can combine perfectly with period homes — particularly if you view the usage of steel as a mere update of the structural jobs that timber used to do

Extending a Listed Building

Many local authority conservation officers expect any new additions to protected buildings to be contemporary in style. Even so, according to James Snell, it is important to get the local authority on board early on to support your proposals if you plan to extend a protected building, and a good starting point is to demonstrate a package of conservation work for the existing building, using appropriate materials and techniques.

“They will have greater confidence in the project and could be more understanding with the contemporary extension,” says James, whose practice has undertaken several such projects. This can also help when negotiating other alterations to the building’s historic fabric in order to make it more suitable for today’s living requirements.

“In our view, the architecture should reflect the activity of the space that it contains,” says James. “Georgian and Queen Anne houses are difficult in this respect as the window openings are so uniform in the elevation. Arts & Crafts houses are less constrained.”

The Six Rules

According to award-winning architect James Snell, of Snell David Architects, there are six golden rules when it comes to extending and altering a period home:

Respect the original

Extensions to listed buildings, whatever style, should always be subservient, ensuring the original still has pride of place. Do not compete with it. Where possible, allow physical and visual space between old and new.

Respect the planners and conservationalists

They have a duty to protect the building and see a viable future for it; they need to be part of the team and can be very supportive, along with your own design team.

Choose the right consultant

Pick an architect who has experience in dealing with period buildings and if possible knows the local authority. There may well be trust that exists between the two and, if so, this will help enormously in the reaching the right solution. Planning consultants can also be useful.

Establish parameters

Be sure about what you want to achieve and be realistic. Establish the dos and don’ts early on in terms of what can be touched and what cannot. For extensions, check the building lines, form, mass, heights and style.

The untouchables

Generally speaking, retain original fabric wherever possible. The removal of original timbers or thatch is a particularly sensitive issue, so be very careful in making new openings in external walls that will result in the loss of original fabric.

Style

A subservient and respectful solution does not mean ‘traditional’ or ‘matching’. A contemporary approach is often less competitive and can afford to be simpler and more restrained. It is usually more ‘honest’ making a distinctive difference between existing and new.

Read part one for advice on planning permission, design, materials and costs...

Read case studies...

Further reading:

• How to Asess a Property For Renovation
• How to Finance Your Renovation
• From Bland to Grand: Postwar Renovations