Wimborne Period-Home Extension

The brief

This concept explores how a substantial red-brick home near Wimborne Minster can gain a useful garden room and renewed kitchen without losing the age, proportion and material character that make the property valuable. The existing fabric is treated as something to understand and repair, not as a decorative backdrop for an unrelated extension.

Reading the existing building

Opening-up and measured investigation come before final specification. Brick condition, floor build-ups, moisture movement, roof junctions and previous alterations all influence how new work should connect. Where historic fabric needs breathable repairs, the surrounding materials and sequence must support that approach.

The retained sash windows, slate roof and handmade brick establish the visual hierarchy. New work remains lower and quieter, using reclaimed brick, slim bronze glazing and a lead-grey standing-seam roof to complement rather than copy the house.

Extending into the walled garden

The garden room sits behind existing walls and planting so its scale is experienced gradually. Brick piers give the glazing a believable rhythm, while opening doors connect the limestone floor to the old terrace and gravel paths.

Roof falls, leadwork, gutters and abutments are detailed as working construction rather than applied styling. External levels and drainage are coordinated with the existing walls, which may not be straight, level or founded in the way a new build would be.

Restored rooms and new services

Inside, restored oak boards and traditional joinery meet the limestone floor of the extension through an intentional threshold. Sage-painted cabinetry, honed stone and aged brass introduce colour and utility without competing with the older brickwork and timber.

A whole-home refurbishment would also review heating, electrics, plumbing, ventilation and insulation. Routes are planned around the fabric worth retaining, and modern performance improvements are balanced against moisture behaviour and the practical constraints of the existing structure.

Delivering a sensitive finish

Mendit would coordinate specialist repairs, structural alterations, envelope work, services, kitchen installation and decoration through one programme. Samples of brick, mortar, metalwork and joinery establish the standard before larger areas proceed.

The result is intended to feel accumulated rather than newly staged: old and new remain readable, but the circulation, comfort and relationship with the garden work as one home.