The new top floor creates two studies, a spare bedroom and shower room, separated by acoustic construction from the rest of the house. The challenge with a heavily partitioned plan is preventing it from feeling compartmentalised. Glazing to the stair, internal sightlines through the spaces, and generous rooflights maintain a sense of height and openness throughout.

Freeing the top floor for work allows the ground floor to operate as a connected series of living spaces. The side return becomes a kitchen-dining room that anchors the rear of the house. A wide pivot door opens the full width to the garden, and a projecting bay window pulls greenery directly into the room. Planting wires for the client's wisteria mean the view is framed by green-on-green as the climber establishes. The joinery is bespoke and carefully made, giving the kitchen a hand-crafted quality without visual noise. Raw timber and concrete complete a restrained, tactile palette throughout.

The mansard roof geometry is not treated as a constraint. It determines the spatial character of the upper floor, and the design uses height and section rather than floor area alone to create rooms with genuine presence.