Our Work
At 7 Design, we have worked with many commercial and consumer clients. We have assisted in the design process at all stages and have abundant knowledge and expertise on what is required to get the job done. Our focus is making your home perfect – reaching it’s true potential. All within a budget and timeframe that’s right for you. We begin by 3d scanning your property with 8k photography. Then with this measure we create a digital twin, showing and visualising options for you until you are sure in what you want to achieve. We then move on to technical delviery and contract matters to get your project built on time and on budget.
to build or not to build an extension – are alterations enough…
Located in the blue triangle of Fleet in Hampshire, this detached property sits in a large garden with good natural sun to the rear of the house. It was challenging for the client to decide what extent and how much, if any to build in terms of new footprint. The house footprint was already large so we explored opening up internal walls to create a shared family area, enlarged kitchen and dining. An extension is possible however the garden has limitations in size as it is stepped into the hillside, so any extension has to allow the garden to remain an enjoyable space year round. To enable the client to best consider their options we showed what was possible in terms of alterations to use the existign available space against what was possible if an extension was considered. Our dolls house process enabled evaluation of options, all with careful cost consideration as we progressed the design.
Initially the direction from the client was to potentially convert the garage into living accommodation, potentially a granny annexe that is used as a home working office. Exterior options were explored auch as changing the windows, an infill to the front elevation and bay window features.
Our dolls house comparisons, are useful for discussions with the client and also neighbours and of course the local authority in a pre-app process. Making sure we know the issues and limitations of the proposed alterations.
The client had a clear vision with how the fascia and roof would look – so we could lock this in for comparison purposes. Then the interiors could be planned out based upon activities and how the family wanted to use the central heart of the home. Then exterior options could be considered and evaluated.
The placement of the roof light was based on sun path and the activities below, so really the interior decides where the rooflight is placed. Then it’s a case of looking at how the interior visually reads against the garden.
Plan options can be explored, how big should the windows be – how important is wall space relative to the room layout!
When extending and altering the family home, we can think about natural daylight into the deep plan. Also how the house flows from the entrance to the private areas of the house. How does the family want to use the spaces and what is best for them in everyday life.
There are many individual decisions to be made when considering a home extension. Pieces of the overall puzzle fit into place letting you free to think about other elements of the project. All about talking one step at a time and bouncing off of ideas. In terms of designing the kitchen and knowing how much space you need, it’s best to consider layout space related to the placement of the main kitchen appliances such as the wall oven, hob, fridge freezer and sink. Here the client realised they needed 3 walls with countertop space, this then anchored how much footprint was required and influenced the following decisions on the size of the extension.
To build or not to build an extension – are alterations enough? What’s the best use of your investment? Home alterations are the most cost effective in terms of cost, however do you need the extension to unlock the true potential of your home?
Should the walls and openings be more traditional in size? We can set up comparison views and discuss what’s best together with the client.
Or do we form a long feature glazing window to the garden, brining the outside inside to the family space?
Looking at the options from the outside also helps with the evaluation process – which one is best overall? This is a more traditional orangery style look for the extension. Or do we go with big feature glass as the way forward?
The long glazing feature, softened with the detail of the traditional orangery style gives more ‘bang for your buck’ in terms of visual impact. This long element of glazing also binds the internal activity spaces together while not eating into the garden space too much.
What We Do
Step 1: Scanning & Photography
Step 2: Sketch Ideas
Step 3: 3D Checks
Step 4: Planning Submission
Step 5: Technical Plans & Building Control
Step 6: Details & Performance Specifications
Step 7: Tender Process & Site Management