Family Extension and Garage Conversion, Henley-on-Thames

The Challenge: A House With Nowhere to Actually Be Together

The 1950s house at Greys Road was a comfortable home in many respects, but it had a problem that will resonate with a great many families: there was simply nowhere to be together. The kitchen was cluttered and cramped, with no room for a proper dining table and no sense that it was designed for the way a busy family actually uses a kitchen. There was no family room - no generous, relaxed space where everyone could settle at the end of the day. And the garden, despite being right there, felt entirely separate from the house: something to look at through small windows rather than a space that was genuinely connected to daily life.
The clients wanted a home that worked for their family, one that had a proper heart, proper light, and a proper relationship with the garden. They also wanted to make better use of the garage, which was no longer needed for cars and had the potential to become something far more useful.

The Design: A Side Extension and Garage Conversion Working as One

Simon Mack Architecture's response was to address both needs together, as a single considered intervention. A new side extension was added to create a large, open-plan family room, generous enough to accommodate a sociable kitchen island, a dedicated dining area and a comfortable seating area, all within one flowing space. The contemporary rendered extension sits confidently alongside the existing 1950s brick, the contrast between old and new handled with care so that the two read as a coherent whole rather than a patchwork.
The extension was designed to flood with natural light and to open directly onto the garden. Large glazed doors dissolve the boundary between the family room and the outside, making the garden feel like a genuine extension of the living space rather than a separate destination. The orientation and positioning of the glazing was considered carefully to maximise daylight throughout the day, because good natural light is not simply an aesthetic pleasure, it is genuinely important to how a home feels to live in.
The garage conversion creates an additional bedroom and annexe space alongside the main works, self-contained enough to offer privacy and independence for guests or extended family, but connected enough to feel part of the home.

The Outcome: A Happier, Healthier Home for the Whole Family

Greys Road is a project about what a home should do for the people who live in it. The new family room has become exactly what its name suggests: the place where the family gathers. The kitchen island invites people to sit and talk whilst meals are prepared. The dining area has room for everyone. The seating area catches the light and looks out to the garden. It is a space that is easy to be in - relaxed, bright and sociable in equal measure.
The connection to the garden has changed how the outside space is used. Where the garden previously felt separate and underused, it is now a natural continuation of the family room, easy to step out into, visible from wherever you are in the space, and genuinely part of daily life through the warmer months.
The converted garage provides exactly the kind of flexible, welcoming extra room that growing families need: a comfortable space for grandparents, guests or older children that doesn't feel like a compromise. Natural light, good space planning and a considered relationship between the new and existing parts of the house have combined to make Greys Road a genuinely happier home.