Private Client
DEDRAFT were appointed to sensitively refurbish and extend this original detached Edwardian house in Cookham, Berkshire. The house dates back to 1909, sits discreetly on a quiet residential lane of large detached houses set amid mature hedgerows and mature trees. It is sited on a generous Green Belt plot with particular policy constraints on expansion and limiting its impact on the wider context,
With the young family having recently relocated to the area from London, our brief was to modernise the home, expand and unify its living spaces as incorporating a dedicated home office. The most significant challenge was the reimagining of the garden and its aspect on all four sides, both strengthening its link with the interior and addressing the level differences. The expansive garden was to include a new-build detached garage / guest accommodation, external swimming pool with an accompanying poolhouse pavilion / gym.
DEDRAFT developed a design that balanced heritage sensitivity with a clear contemporary language, ensuring that new elements remained subservient to the original house and sympathetic to the rural character of the lane. A new single-storey rear extension steps along the rear garden elevation, both unifying the ground floor spaces and opening up the interior, providing light-filled family living spaces that flow directly onto new terraces. A solid concrete plinth on which tall, vertical steel glazing sits offers a robust and enclosing base to the new extension contrasting the overly glazed family rooms with a high-level ribbed concrete band capping the glazed extensions. An angular projecting roof penetration addresses the junction of old and new and floods light into the central kitchen / dining space.
Mock Tudor detailing to the main house was removed and the external render refreshed, simplifying and refining the architectural expression. A restrained palette unites old and new: smooth off-white render and pigmented precast concrete facade details echo the clay tones of the existing house, while fair-faced cast concrete plinths unify and ground the new elements in the remodelled garden offering places to perch.
The new garage and guest accommodation sought to introduce a contrasted language at odds with the original house, its black-stained timber cladding and crisp gabled form reinterpreting local vernacular buildings, while the ridge height and simple detailing ensure it reads as a quiet, secondary element.. Set at a distance from the main house this structure, despite being two-storey it sits subtly under a huge oak tree giving it a monolithic silhouette. Its contemporary simplicity was achieved by considered craftsmanship and detailing – eliminating overhangs concealing gutters, flush rooflights, side-sliding garage doors preventing anything projecting beyond perimeter. To the rear an arched opening deliberately jars with the otherwise orthogonal edges adding a playful nod to the fun being had in the pool it overlooks.
The poolhouse, a low-slung, slender, black timber-clad element reinforces the same language of the neighbouring new-build garage and sits quietly to the east if the garden. It has been designed as three zones with the two ends featuring a home gym, storage and service plant room including an air source heat pump. Centrally sits a inverted external terrace into which bathers can sunbath, cook and dine whilst enjoying the views across the garden.
The reconfigured garden, designed in collaboration with ND Studio, centres on its relationship with the house, particularly those clipped glimpses or panoramic views as one occupies different rooms. Manipulating the original topography Corten-steel retaining walls create tiered planters, softened by layered planting and interspersed with huge concrete slabs that traverse the planters to the elevate garden and poolhouse terrace above. A natural pond was formed to the front garden and is largely concealed within wildflower meadow planting. Across the plot, the design embraces tactility, durability and tonal harmony with the surrounding landscape.
Internally, and in collaboration with Last Interiors the house exudes a warm, homely minimalism, consisting of natural finishes that balance with other bold accent colours. These touches are largely limited to custom joinery, the central staircase and steel doors that occur in a number of location to frame and accentuate entry to the key family spaces. Tactile natural surfaces such as warm oak flooring, in varying formats bring familiar consistency.
The completed project delivers a cohesive ensemble of architecture, landscape and interiors revitalising the family home for contemporary living. Our interventions are distinctly understated, modern yet respectful to the original house.
Project services being provided –
Feasibility Study
Outline Design
Obtain Planning / PD Consent
Obtain Building Control Approval
Detailed Design
Construction Drawings
Monitoring during Construction
Contract Administration
As-Built Drawings
Design Team.
Nick Dexter Studio – Landscape Design
Contractor.
Photos.
Completion.
October 2025
Features.