KITCHEN EXTENSION RIVERSIDE
O’Brien Construction was very pleased to be asked to work on this project. One of our fortes is the integration of the old with the new, the Victorian properties in the Canton, Riverside, and Pontcanna have allowed us to be part of some amazing transformations and this is no exception.
The project:
Many of these types of properties have a side entrance that runs along the length of the back of the house, creating an “L” shape to the rear of the building. The space is not utilized for anything other than bins, bikes, or rubbish, they are also generally spaces with little light, it is essentially a “dead space”. Our job was to bring this area to life by taking down the sidewall of the ground floor kitchen area, extending the building across to the neighboring wall, and adding a new roof fitted with Velux windows to maximize the light.
Originally, the project had a complete glazed roof section, however, after further consultation with our PM Julie Nobes, the client opted for a more solid roof. There were a number of factors put forward in considering this change, 1. in the summer the area would be like a greenhouse and very warm, and in the winter the opposite, making the space cold and expensive to heat. 2. We live in a place where rain is inevitable, the large expanse of glass would make this quite a noisy place when we experienced heavy rainfall. 3. As it was such a large expanse of glass, the area could potentially look more like a visitor attraction entrance or a museum, the decision to build a more solid structure with enough Velux windows to achieve maximum light was decided upon and the result was exceptional.
We were required to build in a new vented extractor fan to comply with building regulation, this provided some challenges due to the lay of the floor joists and the configuration of the extension, access for venting was limited. To accommodate the extractor we needed to build a unit to house it which would be suspended in the ceiling. The client chose an extractor with an LED display and the result was one that looked clean an unobtrusive.
The Result
Once the building work was almost complete, the client has some queries about finishes, design, and colours. Our in-house Interior Designer, Julie Nobes, provided the client with a colour scheme to compliment the grey tones the client had decided upon for the area. Julie sourced tiles from Fired Earth which the client ordered and looked fantastic against the grey kitchen.
The pictures on this page, I think speak for themselves.
I would like to thank:
Our team of Carpenters and labourers
Smart Power Electrics
CS Boxall
DP Windows
Rich and Josh for stepping in at the last minute to complete the tiling (superb job)