SEVENOAKS EXTENSION

Set within 70 acres of Kent countryside, the new owners of a Grade II listed, farmhouse and barn approached Gregory Phillips Architects to replace an ill-conceived, thermally inefficient conservatory structure with a new contemporary extension to maximise views of the surrounding countryside.

The brief also required for the isolated barn structure to be incorporated into the ground floor plan for daily family use. The existing Ground floor arrangement was reconfigured to move the kitchen out of the main house and into the new open plan kitchen and dining space extension to take full advantage of the surrounding countryside views. A new opening was formed in the end barn wall to incorporate the previously isolated barn structure into the ground floor layout. Elegant bronze metal sheets line the deep opening from the extension through to the barn – an important detail at this junction to connect old and new. The Flint wall has been left exposed to incorporate the history and texture of the existing structure to the kitchen extension.

The new extension is uncompromising in its contemporary approach yet through attention to detail, scale, and proportion remains respectful to the existing early 19th century buildings. The

contemporary materiality of bronze metal cladding and large screens of glass both contrast and complement the existing textures of flint and brickwork of the barn and farmhouse adjacent.

From inside, large windows frame vistas of the surrounding landscape while externally, the landscape is reflected in the glass, enveloping the new extension within its rural setting.