Whole-House Remodelling, Rectory Park, Morpeth

A dated 1960s four-bedroom detached house on the Duchar Park Estate in Morpeth, transformed without adding a single square metre.

The house had good bones and an awkward plan. Downstairs, the kitchen and dining room were closed off from the living space, so we removed the dividing wall and opened the ground floor into one connected space, with new French doors onto the garden and two rooflights bringing daylight down into the living room. We positioned them where they're not visible from the street, which kept the planning application straightforward.

Upstairs, the master bedroom gained an en-suite and a new guest bathroom was added. The first-floor conservatory — freezing in winter, unusable in summer, and leaking heat from the middle of the house — was removed entirely.

The whole roof was rebuilt and the elevations re-clad, giving the house a modern exterior and a warm, efficient interior with none of the cost or upheaval of extending.

Approved under a full householder planning application to Northumberland County Council.

Technical specification: roof rebuilt to 0.16 W/m²K, exceeding the 0.18 required. Hardie Plank fibre cement cladding in Rich Espresso, A2-s1,d0 fire classification (non-combustible). All new windows, doors and rooflights at 1.4 W/m²K or better. Structural openings coordinated with an independent structural engineer.

Services: measured survey, design, full householder planning application, Building Regulations drawings, structural coordination.