1960s Bungalow Remodel, Ferndown
Rear extension, full-width dormer and a complete internal refit to a dated 1960s bungalow.
The starting point
A three-bedroom 1960s bungalow on a good-sized plot, bought by a family who needed five bedrooms and could not afford to move to get them. The question was whether the existing structure could carry what they wanted.
Checking before designing
The first thing we did – before anyone paid an architect – was open up the eaves and get a structural engineer to look at the existing walls and foundations. This is the step most bungalow projects skip, and it is the one that decides whether the whole idea is affordable.
In this case the foundations were sound and the cavity walls were capable of taking the additional load with a new ring beam at wall plate level. That answer, obtained in week one for the cost of a day’s work, is what allowed the rest of the design to proceed with confidence.
The work
A full-width rear dormer created two double bedrooms and a bathroom in the roof. At ground level, a 5m rear extension turned three small rooms into one open family space with bifolds onto the garden. Everything else – wiring, plumbing, heating, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, decoration – was replaced.
The result
Twenty-two weeks. The house went from three bedrooms and 96 square metres to five bedrooms and around 158 square metres, on the same footprint plus the extension, without moving.
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