Bespoke Hardwood Kitchen Extensions
A bespoke kitchen extension can create the heart of the home — bringing kitchen, dining and living space together while improving the connection between the house and garden.
For many of our clients, the aim is not simply to add another room. It is to rethink the ground floor of the house, opening up smaller or darker spaces to create a generous kitchen, dining and living area that works better for everyday life.
James Alexander designs bespoke hardwood kitchen extensions for homes across the South of England. Every project begins with the existing house: its proportions, character, layout and the way you want to use it.
Hardwood Kitchen Extensions Designed Around Your Home
The Heart of Your Home, Beautifully Reimagined
Many of the houses we work with were designed for a very different way of living. Kitchens can be separated from dining rooms, rear rooms can feel disconnected from the garden and older layouts often leave surprisingly little daylight at the centre of the house.
A kitchen extension gives us the opportunity to address those things together.
The new space might involve extending the existing kitchen into the garden, opening up adjoining rooms, introducing glazing from above or creating a wider connection between the house and outside. The right solution will depend on the property rather than a predetermined style of extension.
Our role is to understand what is already there and design the new structure around it.
GALLERY
Kitchen Extension Projects
Our Partnership with Terence Ball Kitchens
A well-designed kitchen extension needs the room itself and the kitchen within it to work together. James Alexander therefore works alongside fellow Somerset family business Terence Ball Kitchens, whose family has been designing and making bespoke furniture and kitchens for nearly 60 years.
Where the two businesses are involved in the same project, the extension and kitchen can be considered together from an early stage. The position of glazing, doors, structural openings and rooflights can all be developed with the eventual kitchen layout in mind, rather than treating one as an afterthought to the other.
The heart of your home
For many families, the kitchen has become much more than somewhere to prepare meals. It is where people eat together, talk at the end of the day, work, do homework, entertain friends and simply spend time in the same space.
Creating that kind of room is often the main reason our clients come to us.
A James Alexander kitchen extension can bring the kitchen, dining and living areas together to create a more generous central space at the heart of the home. Sometimes this means extending an existing kitchen; sometimes it involves opening up adjoining rooms or rethinking much of the ground floor.
We start with the way you want to live in the house, then design the extension and the changes to the existing rooms around that.
Open-Plan Living, Designed Around Your Family
Creating an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space often involves changes to the existing house as well as the new extension.
That might mean widening an existing opening, connecting rooms that currently feel separate or removing part of an external load-bearing wall so that the old and new spaces work together.
James Alexander develops the architectural design in-house, with the structural calculations independently engineered where required. This means the extension and the alterations to the original house can be considered as one design rather than as separate pieces of work.
Finding the Right Design Approach for Your Home
No two houses need quite the same response.
The proportions of the existing building, its materials, window positions, roof form and relationship with the garden all influence the way an extension should be designed. This becomes particularly important when working with older, listed or architecturally distinctive properties.
Some houses suit a clearly contemporary addition. Others call for something quieter that takes its cues from the architecture already there.
The aim is to create a new space that works for the way you live while still feeling considered in relation to the original house.
HONEST FEEDBACK
Client Reviews
FAQs
Our hardwood kitchen extensions are designed to combine timeless craftsmanship, natural light and practical everyday living. Below, we answer some of the most common questions homeowners ask when considering a bespoke hardwood kitchen extension.
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Every project is individually designed, so the cost depends on the size and complexity of the extension, the amount of glazing, alterations required to the existing house and the final specification.
Following the initial consultation and development of the design, James Alexander provides a clear project quotation so that the proposed work and associated costs can be understood before progressing.
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Not always. Some extensions to houses can fall within permitted-development rights provided they meet the relevant limits and conditions. The position can be different where permitted-development rights have been restricted, and additional considerations apply to listed buildings, Conservation Areas and National Landscapes.
We assess the planning position for the individual property and can prepare and submit the necessary application where permission is required.
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Most extensions require Building Regulations approval. Where the project also involves creating a new or wider opening through an existing load-bearing wall, the structure will need to be appropriately designed and supported.
James Alexander prepares the Building Regulations information for the project and coordinates the necessary structural calculations.
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Yes. A kitchen extension intended to become part of the main living accommodation is designed with year-round use in mind.
The appropriate combination of glazing, insulation, ventilation, heating and solar control depends on the orientation and design of the individual extension, so the specification is developed for each project rather than applying the same glazing package to every building.
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Often, yes. Many James Alexander projects involve creating a larger connection between the existing house and the new extension so that the kitchen, dining and living areas work as one space.
Where load-bearing walls are altered, the structural design is independently engineered and the work is dealt with through Building Regulations approval.
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Yes, although the design and consent process needs to respond carefully to the individual building.
For a listed property, Listed Building Consent is required where the proposed alterations or extension would affect its special architectural or historic character. The starting point is therefore understanding which parts of the building are significant and developing the extension around them.
James Alexander can prepare and manage the relevant planning and Listed Building Consent applications where required.
READY TO SEE WHAT’S POSSIBLE?
Contact Us Today
If you are considering extending your kitchen or reorganising the ground floor of your home, the first step is simply to talk through what you would like to change.
Alex, Dee and the team can discuss the house, your ideas and the practical options before developing a design around the property.
Fill in the form to Book a Free Design Consultation Or call us on 01823 762176