Refurbish, Extend or Start Again?

The question our clients brought to us at Belle Vue Road is one we hear often, and it is always worth answering properly: how much will this cost, and what is actually the right thing to do? The existing house had potential on paper, a decent plot in Henley-on-Thames. The family had outgrown the space but the right course of action was far from obvious.
Rather than beginning with a design, we began with an investigation. A thorough feasibility study and proper site assessment told us what we were actually dealing with. The findings were significant: the existing foundations were shallow and would require extensive and costly underpinning; the building suffered from poor natural light owing to its orientation and the position of its windows; and a detailed cost review revealed that refurbishing and extending the existing house would be broadly as expensive as demolishing and building new.
This kind of honest, evidence-based assessment is one of the most valuable things an architect can offer. It saved the clients from investing heavily in a compromised outcome and opened the door to something far better.

A New House, Properly Orientated and Freely Planned

With the decision made to build new, the design was liberated from the constraints of the existing structure. Orientation could be considered afresh, allowing natural light to reach every room throughout the day. Thermal performance could be designed to current standards from the ground up, unencumbered by the limitations of an old building's fabric. The plan could be arranged entirely around how this particular family wanted to live.
The result is a house that blends a contemporary sensibility with a traditional character appropriate to its Henley-on-Thames setting. Rendered walls, exposed brick, pitched roofs and dormer windows all speak to the local architectural vernacular, but with proportions and detailing that feel fresh and resolved rather than imitative.
At the rear, the house reveals its contemporary heart. Crittall-style steel-framed glazing runs generously across the rear elevation, creating a dramatic and light-filled connection between the interior and the garden. Internally, the spaces are beautifully linked and easy to navigate: a large open-plan kitchen flows into dedicated dining and sitting areas, whilst a separate, cosier grown-up living room provides a quieter retreat from the bustle of family life. A bespoke floor-to-ceiling wine store, framed in black steel with glass shelving, brings a particular moment of delight to the ground floor circulation. Upstairs, there is proper space and privacy for the family and their guests.
Throughout, the detailing is considered: natural oak flooring, a rooflight above the kitchen flooding the heart of the house with daylight, and a black steel-framed glass partition in the hallway that maintains visual connection through the house whilst defining the spaces with clarity.

A Happier, Healthier Home

Belle Vue Road is a house that simply feels good to be in. Natural light reaches every room; the spaces flow from one to the next with ease; the garden is present throughout the ground floor rather than glimpsed through small windows. It is warm, energy efficient and because it was designed without the compromises that a difficult existing structure would have imposed, it performs exactly as intended.
The clients have a home that is genuinely suited to the way they live: open and sociable when they want it to be, quiet and intimate when they need that instead. The feasibility process that preceded the design was not a delay, it was the foundation on which everything else was built. This project is a clear demonstration of why the right first question matters so much.