BIG ideas for small extensions

Adding a sunroom or orangery

A small garden room-style extension can be a delicate way to increase natural light, while also extending a living space.This project, by Westbury Garden Rooms (www.westburygardenrooms.com), extends out by just 2m, but the timber, glass and masonry structure maximises views to the garden and opens up the once awkward, rectangular kitchen to become an informal yet intimate space.

Some garden room structures are exempt from the Building Regulations when they met certain criteria (such as being thermally separated from the house with external-grade doors), but where structure involves knocking down a wall to integrate the new space with the main house, as in the project above, Part L1B of the Building Regs imposes a limit on the total amount of glazing in the new extension to 25% of the floor area. However, choosing to use triple glazed or low-e windows might appease these thermal requirements while also making the whole space more comfortable.