照明を埋め込んだ飾り壁 エントランスに向かうにつれて、控えめな照明が誘導します・ 足元の植栽も映えて白犬英壁が絵のようです。 当社では、白い塗り壁は汚れが付きづらい処理を施します。
Photo of a large modern exterior in Tokyo.

農地転用後の平屋の住まい　Photo by fuminori maemi/FMA
Small modern one-storey grey house exterior in Other with metal siding, a gable roof and a metal roof.

Our clients have always loved the location of their house for easy access to work, schools, leisure facilities and social connections, but they were becoming increasingly frustrated with the form and size constraints of their home. As the family has grown and developed their lifestyles and living patterns had changed. Their three bedroomed link detached house was starting to feel small and it was proving to be increasingly unsuitable for their lifestyle. The separate downstairs living areas were dividing the family, they were struggling to fit in a room big enough to accommodate them all to sit down and eat together. As a result of the small separate living, kitchen and dining spaces they were spending little time in each other’s company. They desired to create a long term solution for their young family to grow into and enjoy. Rather than moving house or self-building from scratch, they decided to stay in the location that they loved and to add a modern extension to their existing home. They aspired to create a modern, functional space for everyday family life, whilst improving the curb appeal of their home to add value. We were appointed by our clients to create a design solution to replace the old, cold, and leaking conservatory to the rear of the property, with a modern, light filled, open plan home extension. The intention for the new large open living space was to break down the room barriers and respond to the needs of the family to support their home life into the foreseeable future. Delivering on time and within budget were essential. With a young family and pets at home it was essential for minimal disruption to their daily lifestyle. The family needed help from our team at Croft Architecture to swiftly and successfully acquire Planning and Building Control Approval for their project to progress rapidly, ensuring project completion on time and to their determined budget. In Context A families, needs, wants, and desires are constantly changing as they mature, yet our family nests stay static, and can obstruct the ease and enjoyment of everyday life if they don’t adapt in line with modern living requirements. Our Approach The client’s home is located in a suburb of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in North Staffordshire. Their original house is a three bedroomed link detached family home that’s located on a mature housing estate close to the Trent and Mersey Canal. The original home is immediately connected to the properties on either side via the garage link, with a neighbouring property flanking wall also located at the base of their rear garden too. Before progressing with the project we advised the family to inform all of their adjoining neighbours of their intention to extend. It's often much better to take the neighbourly approach and to inform neighbours of works in advace, so that they can express any concerns,which are often easily resolved. Other matters to discuss with neighbours may be the need to have a Party Wall agreement. For more details about Party Wall Regulations click here to take a look at our blog. To create the space that our clients aspired to achieve the neighbouring properties needed to be taken into consideration. Design Approach The site available was compact so a balance needed to e struck to provide a generous amount of floor space for the new extension. Our clients needed our help to create a design solution that offered them a generous amount of extra space whilst bearing no visual impact on the neighbouring properties or street scene. The development of the design for the home extension referenced the style and character of the homes in the immediate neighbourhood, with particular features being given a contemporary twist. Our clients had done their own research and planning with regards to the required look, finish and materials that wanted to use. They liked oak beamed structures and they wanted to create a light space that seamlessly opened into the garden, using a glazed oak beamed structure. However, oak comes a price and our clients had a determined budget for the project. Numerous companies were contacted for prices to reflect their budget and eventually perseverance paid off. The oak structure was sourced locally in Staffordshire. The design of the newly extended family space complements the style & character of the main house, emulating design features and style of brick work. Careful design consideration has been given to ensure that the newly extended family living space corresponds well with not only, the adjoining properties, but also the neighbouring homes within the local area. It was essential to ensure that the style, scale and proportions of the new generous family living space to the rear of the property beard no visual impact on the streetscape, yet the design responded to the living patterns of the family. The extension to the rear of the home replaces a conservatory spanning the full width of the property, which was always too cold to use in the winter and too hot in the summer. We saw the opportunity for our clients to take advantage of the westerly afternoon/evening sun and to fill the space with natural light. We combined the traditional oak framing with modern glazing methods incorporated into the oak structure. The design of the extension was developed to receive the sunlight throughout the day using roof lights, with the evening sun being captured by the floor to ceiling grey framed bi-folding doors. The pitched roof extension creates an internal vaulted ceiling giving the impression of a light, airy space, especially with the addition of the large roof lights. The updated light grey, high gloss kitchen and light grey marble countertops help reflect the light from the skylights in the ceiling, with a zesty lime grey block splashback creating a perfect accent colour to reflect the family’s fun personalities and to bring life to their new living space. The extension is an open room with the kitchen and dining room all sharing the same space. White walls have been combined with wooden flooring and oak structure to create a sense of warmth. The oak beams really come into their own in this large open plan space, especially with the vaulted ceiling and large folding doors open seamlessly into the back garden. Adding an oak framed extension with the floor to ceiling glazing has enabled the family to get the ‘wow factor’ within their budget. Externally, our team at Croft Architecture have created a clean, traditional addition to the existing period property, whilst inside the dwelling now has a new, sleek, light and spacious family ‘hub’ that seamlessly connects with the existing home and the garden. Our team has also worked closely with the client to consider the project as whole and not just the home extension and new additional garden space. The design of the external space has been carefully remodelled to ensure that the ground not only, works for the family, but also successfully enhance the visual appearance. A strong working relationship between our team, the client and the planners enabled us to gain the necessary permissions promptly, rapidly propelling the project forwards within a short time frame. We enjoyed working with the project team and we’re extremely pleased to successfully deliver the completed project in accordance with our client’s timescales and budget.

Photo of a mid-sized modern two-storey white duplex exterior in Other with wood siding, a flat roof and a mixed roof.

Design ideas for a mid-sized modern two-storey black house exterior in Other with metal siding, a flat roof and a metal roof.

Located at the rear of the property along an alley, the backyard cottage frames the corner of the property creating privacy. A new alley fence will be added this spring along with the final landscaping and hardscaping. The final design of the backyard will allow both the adu user and the home owner to each have their own areas along with common areas.

Photo of a mid-sized modern one-storey brick black house exterior in Adelaide with a hip roof and a metal roof.

Design ideas for a mid-sized modern two-storey multi-coloured house exterior in Sydney with stone veneer, a flat roof and a metal roof.

Large modern split-level white house exterior in Minneapolis with mixed siding, a flat roof, a mixed roof, board and batten siding and a black roof.

Located along a country road, a half mile from the clear waters of Lake Michigan, we were hired to re-conceptualize an existing weekend cabin to allow long views of the adjacent farm field and create a separate area for the owners to escape their high school age children and many visitors! The site had tight building setbacks which limited expansion options, and to further our challenge, a 200 year old pin oak tree stood in the available building location. We designed a bedroom wing addition to the side of the cabin which freed up the existing cabin to become a great room with a wall of glass which looks out to the farm field and accesses a newly designed pea-gravel outdoor dining room. The addition steps around the existing tree, sitting on a specialized foundation we designed to minimize impact to the tree. The master suite is kept separate with ‘the pass’- a low ceiling link back to the main house. Painted board and batten siding, ribbons of windows, a low one-story metal roof with vaulted ceiling and no-nonsense detailing fits this modern cabin to the Michigan country-side. A great place to vacation. The perfect place to retire someday.

Lost Note Productions
Small modern three-storey brick grey exterior in Baltimore with a flat roof.

Inspiration for a small modern three-storey grey exterior in Seattle with metal siding and a flat roof.

Vivienda unifamiliar entre medianeras con piscina. La Quinta Fachada Arquitectos Belén Jiménez Conca http://www.laQuintaFachada.com https://www.instagram.com/la_quinta_fachada_arquitectura https://www.facebook.com/laquintafachada/ Mov: +34 655 007 409 Altea · Calpe · Moraira · Javea · Denia

Historic street front. Photo by Eszter+David (eszteranddavid.com)
Design ideas for a large modern three-storey stucco black exterior in San Francisco with a flat roof.

new home
Photo of a small modern exterior in Wellington.

An extension and renovation to a timber bungalow built in the early 1900s in Shenton Park, Western Australia. Budget $300,000 to $500,000. The original house is characteristic of the suburb in which it is located, developed during the period 1900 to 1939. A Precinct Policy guides development, to preserve and enhance the established neighbourhood character of Shenton Park. With south facing rear, one of the key aspects of the design was to separate the new living / kitchen space from the original house with a courtyard - to allow northern light to the main living spaces. The courtyard also provides cross ventilation and a great connection with the garden. This is a huge change from the original south facing kitchen and meals, which was not only very small, but quite dark and gloomy. Another key design element was to increase the connection with the garden. Despite the beautiful backyard and leafy suburb, the original house was completely cut off from the garden. Now you can see the backyard the moment you step in the front door, and the courtyard breaks the journey as you move through the central corridor of the home to the new kitchen and living area. The entire interior of the home is light and bright. The rear elevation is contemporary, and provides a definite contrast to the original house, but doesn't feel out of place. There is a connection in the architecture between the old and new - for example, in the scale, in the materials, in the pitch of the roof.

This is an example of a mid-sized modern split-level grey house exterior in Tokyo with a flat roof.

View from pool with master bedroom, master bath and loft-like living area beyond.
Photo of a mid-sized modern one-storey stucco grey exterior in Los Angeles with a shed roof.

JC Buck
This is an example of a mid-sized modern two-storey grey exterior in Los Angeles with metal siding.