Looking first of all at the normal 2 up 2 down property in isolation, the first thing we considered was the potential market. So who lives in a house like this? Clearly they are too small for families, yet apartments both inside and outside the City centre with not only less amenity space, but less floor area are incredibly popular within the housing market. City centre flats have no parking, no gardens, and a door straight on to the street. So where is the problem here? Additionally apartments are usually impossible to reconfigure or extend, so we were looking to create a property type which could not only offer more than the average flat in terms of floor area, but also the flexibility to alter them should the needs of the residents change.
The main challenge with these properties is the position of the staircase, any potential for converting the loft space into an additional bedroom was impossible. However if the ground floor was treated as one open plan living space, and the staircase moved round, the potential to do this was restored. Our proposal then allowed for this to take place no only during the reconfiguration works but also to allow for it to take place in the future were it not required at the outset.
House type 1 therefore proposes that the ground floor be opened up, the staircase be repositioned and the fabric of the building be stabilised and the loft left ready for conversion should it be required. The variation House type 1a has the loft conversion done from the outset to provide a contemporary 3 bedroom home.
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