PROJECT FOCUS
To maximise light in the kitchen , the ABL3 team created long slots in the roof to draw light into the space . The back of the house was previously very dark , so this transformed the feel of the space into something light and airy , which the client very much appreciated .
What to do with the middle room at Second Avenue was the other major challenge , as the room would lose light due to the extension . After careful consideration , ABL3 Architects turned half of the space into a utility room and used the other half to add a bar , desk area and storage to the existing living room , via a built-in joinery unit . The design made sense of the darker part of the room , giving it character and functionality , rather than simply creating a dim corridor ! The whole family can now use the space without feeling on top of each other . It ' s not quite open plan – it ’ s flexible living , with spaces that double up for different purposes .
Planning for the Second Avenue extension was originally granted on 9 December 2019 . However , the land had knotweed , which had to be cleared completely before any work could proceed . This meant that work on site started on 23 March 2020 – the day the UK government announced the first national Covid-19 lockdown .
The lockdown created plenty of disruption and delays , with the steel and glass windows taking longer to arrive and the schedule slipping when the electrician and others had Covid . The ABL3 team flexed around the issues , ordering materials as far in advance as possible and juggling workflows , so that the project was finished in September 2020 , six months after work began .
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