The owners of a town-house in Blackheath wished to add a 4th floor, containing a master-bedroom/office and a balcony to admire a breathtaking view over the City of London! This provided a fifth bedroom, since the ground floor garage had already been converted into a bedroom. The roof spaces were made fully accessible, providing much needed storage, as welkl as access onto the remaining roof.

Few if any similar projects exist in London – for reasons that become apparent! The planning issues were sensitive, and this was resolved by the choice of a lead-appearance steel cladding set well back from the front elevation, giving the appearance of a traditional lead mansard roof, common in London. The planning consultation with neighbours was so positive that the next door neighbour then commissioned exactly the same design from us!

However, this was nothing compared with the ‘means of escape’ issue from the new and old top floors.  Permission was negotiated successfully by installing a sprinkler system throughout the house.  Although this might sound draconian, in February 2011 the Welsh Assembly passed an act ensuring that every new home in Wales must have a sprinkler system installed.  So we may have been pioneers.

The clients carried out much of the work themselves to reduce costs.

What the clients said:
“Stephen Waldron approached our … roof extension project with enthusiasm and care.  He treated our house and our opinions respectfully, always listening to our many questions and answering or helping us answer them.

Not only were we happy with the design process but we were also grateful for Stephen’s extensive knowledge of materials, new technologies and his great experience of local planning procedures and building regulations.

I especially appreciated his allowance for ‘good light’, his meticulous efforts to fit our staircase in and his final bill – which came in under budget.  I can’t complain about that!

We now enjoy our views daily.”

Paul & Emily Adlington: clients