SUN SLICE HOUSE AND SPA

The brief was to restore and extend a Victorian semi-detached house that had fallen into disrepair in South Cambridge. Alongside the usual spatial provisions, the refurbishment provides space for a homeschooling area for the client’s children, a home working space for the parents, a music space, a mudroom, utility room and a library. The clients also wanted to add a new-build outdoor leisure space to the end of their garden to house a gym, sauna and spa area.

The original house, although in poor condition, had a great deal of character which we wanted to preserve. We wanted the extension to feel like it was enveloping the existing home, creating a new layer around the older volume, so they could be read together. A slender handmade brick was selected for the extension the colour harmonises with the Cambridge yellow stock brick of the original house.

The form of the extension was carefully designed, through extensive daylight studies, to create a naturally illuminated north-facing rear extension. The skylights maximise light through the rear glazed façade and carefully positioned skylights.

The entire property was carefully considered and through working with landscaping designer, Jane Brockbank we were able to make best use of the garden which includes a lawn, greenhouse, four vegetable allotments and a meadow garden.

At the rear of the garden, is a leisure building, hidden among the planting which contains a gym, spa and sauna. It also has space for visiting guests - away from the main house.