We lowered the rear garden by 3 meters to emphasise a sense of connection with the newly excavated basement. This seamless link significantly increased the sense of space on both the ground and basement floors. We tied in our planning consent with the neighbour's side extension scheme so both properties could benefit from a squared-off parapet party wall. This enabled us to design a double height dining room-cum-internal garden with enough headroom to build a stair from the kitchen to the rear of the basement. The open-plan family space was thus saturated in natural light from the double height rear glazing.
The kitchen's island unit and bar over sailed the glass balustrade - a 'diving board' to the dining room below, whilst a walnut staircase handrail from ground to basement bled into a band flush with the plaster.
We maximised the limited width of the building with slot windows and a glazed segment beneath the main staircase between stringer and floor. From the sitting room you could therefore enjoy views of the full length and breadth of the building. A secondary staircase from ground to basement at the front of the property completed the circuit and made sense of the generous new space below.