Restore an outbuilding and join to 2 storey extension

[peacalmer]

Hi,

New to the forum, hi all.

Just wondered if it's possible to link an old but characterful outbuilding to the rear of an extended Victorian house that has, for a bunch of reasons, never been connected to the house about 1m away?

We think a previous owner took the roof and one wall away from a 1900-1920 age outbuilding while finishing off a 2 storey extension but enough of it has been left intact to make it feasible to restore.

This picture shows a parking area and garage (white part on the left side) all of which sits on a massive concrete slab, and next to that is a decking area (shaded). The decking north-south - the strip behind the garage leading to the back door- covers the footings and I can see supports for a suspended wooden floor if I lift the decking.

The east-west strip of decking running to the back of the lounge doesn't have footings.

If I go back in time (not very far!) I can see maps that show the plot and the north and south walls bordered a massive building in two sections - the concrete floored bit (white in the pic above) was a treble garage with a sloping roof spanning the full width of the plot, and behind that (decking area) was a solid building with a flat roof. The flat roofed section and the modern extension are separated by a gap no bigger than a garden gate.

I don't think curtilage would be an issue - restoring the flat roofed building between garage and house wouldn't even touch 40% of the curtilage. This snap from the 80s shows the two outbuildings as one big square.

What is the likelihood of a council approving restoration of that flat roofed bit as an orangery and connecting it to the house? What is feasible here?

I have asked a few conservatory companies, they all seem to think it'd be dead simple if only there wasn't a garden gate sized gap between the walls that are still there, and the back wall of the extension.

Thanks in advance.

 

[LukeB123]

There's a lot to consider here, and we're going to assume that there's no Historic or Heritage elements (listings, conservation areas etc.) effecting the property, land, or adjacent land?

I think the overall mass of the extension (including your existing extensions) may be an issue when put against the original footprint of the house. You'll need to check what the local extension, character and design policies say about household extensions in this respect. It's probably so close to the outbuilding because of existing extensions to the rear of the original dwellings and the linking of this together is going to further these extensions from the rear massively and lose the original feel of an outbuilding.

It does however benefit you favourably that it is already up and in place, the orientation with the adjoining neighbour (if that's southernly) and a 'restoration' job rather than additional extensions.

You could do with digging a bit to find out what is original on the dwelling and / or what stood on the property as of 1948 and what happened when the last guy took the roof off.

 

[peacalmer]

Aye, that's all in the works. I've found out that (decades ago) one prior owner did try to get planning permission to build a house in the yard, and it was turned down. At the time, the gap between the house and the outbuilding wall was only about 1m so I expect the reason it was refused is that it would've left the main house without any garden to speak of.

The only historic/heritage aspects exist in the context of local knowledge, there are no listings. It's been a fun few months; we looked at getting a fireplace renovated, called a firm from a nearby town to quote for it (we'd used them previously at another house), and the gent who runs that firm got into fireplaces/chimneys when he was apprenticed to a coal merchant. And yes, he served his apprenticeship working in what's now our back yard.

 

[peacalmer]

Bit more information - the demolition of all three garages (but oddly not demolition of the building behind it which is simply described as a "yard") does appear in plans for an approved planning application in 1994 but the plan also included the construction of a new driveway, double garage and store at the western end of the garden - the new buildings were never constructed and that explains why the garages weren't completely removed.

 

[peacalmer]

A builder's looked at it today and reckons 2/3 of the north wall of the house is original so the site plan from the 80s is showing the house with its original sawtooth-shaped back. This does mean the 2 storey extension includes sits on top of the pre-1948 footprint. Not only that, the builder reckons the study wall in my diagram is correctly shaded - it's where the original back wall would've been.

The bottom left corner (southwest corner) of the kitchen in the extension complies with the 45 degree rule in terms of a first floor window in the house next door. Would something like this be acceptable?
https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/296463587967891632/

 

[Leofric]

A local architect or architectural technician would be a better person to advise on this sort of thing. ( not saying you shouldn't ask questions on here by the way )