In the retrofit and extension of his old bungalow, Michael Collins has teased something special out of the ordinary.
TEXT ALEXANDRA PRATT IMAGES JACOB MILLIGAN
Sometimes, the perfect home project doesn’t need to be the dream building plot. Sometimes, it can be a tired 1930s bungalow in a good area close to the station. Providing, that is, you can see the building’s potential. Architect Michael Collins and his wife Anna saw that potential when they bought their modest two bedroom bungalow in Hertfordshire in 2016. Located next to a nature reserve, the bungalow “wasn’t well looked after,” recalls Michael. “And the building left a lot to be desired, but it was a sizable plot, 50 metres deep, with a good long garden.”
With a small baby taking up much of their time and another on the way, Michael and Anna waited three years before starting work on their home in 2019. Spread over several phases, their project added a single storey extension to the rear, created two additional bedrooms and a shower room in the attic and gave the existing building a deep retrofit. The result is an extraordinary home that keeps its traditional appearance at the front, yet is innovative, sophisticated and perfectly tailored to the demands of busy family life.
The two constraints Michael faced when planning the changes to their home were the budget and environmental concerns. While energy efficiency was a key goal, Michael was also keen to make sure that any new materials had ‘low embodied carbon’ – for example, the products they chose were produced with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In practical terms, this meant Michael chose timber rather than steel in the construction.
This was also part of their decision to build the new rear extension at 90 degrees to the back of the existing home, rather than along the width. That approach, Michael believes, cuts out a lot of light in the original building. Turning the 8m x 4m extension at a right angle created a sheltered and private courtyard garden, with more light in both old and new parts of the building and a better sequence of spaces. The extension is home to the living room and, at the far end, the office, while the kitchen remains in its original position at the back of the bungalow.
“Budget was a massive part of that decision,” admits Michael. “But it also avoids the use of steel, as we had to retain the original openings.”
The original kitchen is now a spacious open-plan kitchen and dining room. The bright and modern decor also hides a key design feature; a ‘secret’ utility room, tucked behind the panelling next to the dining table. Despite the fact there is no window or external door in this room, Anna and Michael can use it to dry laundry, thanks to the mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system they installed as part of the retrofit. The MVHR removes moist air and replaces it with fresh air in an energy-efficient way, using a heat exchanger to extract the heat before expelling the stale air.
Clever storage ideas also make the most of the space upstairs in the new bedrooms. In the master bedroom, for example, Michael pushed back the structure to create additional space. Rather than install conventional bedside tables, he built low-level drawers into the wall; a trick that not only reduces clutter but cuts back on dusting! Discrete panels on either side of the bed also open to reveal hidden wardrobe space.
Cost-effective and sustainable material choices were key to the success of this project, and the most striking of these is perhaps the green roof on the extension. With exceptional insulating properties, it keeps heating bills down and is a nod to the meadow across the road, against which the new extension sits comfortably.
A green roof is a good system for water retention and the water is used by the plants that would otherwise run into a soakaway. Rather than choose the more common sedum roof, Michael and Anna opted for wildflowers, which not only attract pollinators but bring birds closer to the house. The meadow-like planting also draws a visual connection to the garden beyond, as well as to the neighbouring nature reserve.
“We can look out, across the roof to the garden and we have a terrific view from the window,” says Michael. “It’s also really enhanced the biodiversity.”
Another advantage of a green roof is the level of insulation it provides. 120mm of earth is not only insulating but gives incredible acoustic performance. Due to the contours of the garden, the office is also partly sunken and Michael relishes his days spent working from home, as the office is a “very silent and a marvellous space to tuck yourself away in.”
Elsewhere, the retrofit of the existing building meant plenty of new insulation in the floors, walls and roof. Despite Building Regulations placing no obligation on Michael to upgrade the existing building, he added insulation in the floors and roof that was double the standard required in homes. Michael chose Earthwool and Ecotherm PIR, a rigid insulating board. While not the ‘greenest’ material available, both have recycled content and were the trade-off Michael had to make between very high performance, sustainability and a reasonable price tag. Many fully ‘eco’ products, such as clay plaster, were simply beyond the couple’s budget. “We had to cut our cloth to suit our purse,” says Michael.
Despite this, Michael’s design is creative and innovative. Where trendy eco products were out of reach, he specified agricultural products instead, such as fibre cement. Made from recycled slates and frequently used on farm sheds, fibre cement can be used to create a sharp, contemporary look reminiscent of zinc. Michael used this around the new dormer windows with great impact and is pleased with the results. “You can work with it easily,“ he says. “And it’s a cheap and ubiquitous material that can be elevated.”
Another careful choice was the type of blocks used to build the new extension, which are made with a high recycled content. Parts of the extension were then clad with Iroko, a tropical hardwood that is incredibly robust. “It’s often used for boatbuilding,” says Michael. “The cladding faces east and it gets a battering of UV light, but the Iroko should last for decades. We didn’t finish it, we just left it natural, as it is very strong and gives a nice, warm feeling.”
The contemporary feel continues with the windows, which are triple-glazed in the small, traditional windows to the front and double-glazed at the rear, due to the higher costs of large sliding doors. Delays with the delivery of the glazing were the only real challenge in this build which, unsurprisingly, ran smoothly.
The couple’s phased approach was dictated by budget and there is more to do, with an air source heat pump planned shortly to replace their gas central heating, plus solar panels for the roof. Together, these additions will further reduce the day-to-day running costs of their home, while also reducing the carbon impact of the family’s energy use. Even without these measures, the EPC has gone from an ‘F’ on purchase to an incredible ‘B’. “That’s better
than a new build,” says Michael. “The assessor was limited by his software, and we were even pulled down by the existing building, so it’s quite something.”
The eco-credentials continue inside with a high/low approach that combines eco-friendly non-VOC paint with everyday products, such as an engineered floor from B&Q. Michael was also lucky that Anna agreed to take on the interior design, since she has an exceptional eye, despite not having a background in design.
Inspired by the nearby meadows, Anna’s concept was to create the sense of sitting in a meadow, with colour up to a horizontal line around the room. A bold approach, but one that answered the question of how to make their eight-year-old daughter’s room sophisticated.
The shower room takes the same inspiration, with light falling on almost iridescent Zellige tiles and a terrazzo floor that echoes the scattered petals of wildflowers. The interior style in the new extension edges more towards the ‘raw’ trend in architectural design. Michael selected joinery-grade joists for their lack of knots and then simply planed and coated them in preservative. Between each exposed beam is high-quality birch ply. The effect is organic in feel, with a simplicity that places the focus on the views through the windows and the serenity of the spaces. “It’s normal materials, just done carefully,” says Michael.
Although their family grew with the arrival of their son in 2019, the phased approach has made the project less of a slog. Michael was the only family member to remain living onsite during all the building work, while Anna took the children to stay with family to avoid the dust and noise. Despite being the designer and project manager of the build, Michael didn’t get too hands-on, beyond doing some of the decorating. The building work was left to main contractor Arden Construction, who have done a fantastic job on this most exacting of projects.
For Michael, the best decision he made was to listen to his conscience and move away from using steel and plasterboard. Timber and the application of traditional plaster directly to block walls have not only cut costs significantly but also reduced the family’s impact on the planet.
With the home completed in 2023, Michael now loves sunny mornings, when the family can move easily between the sheltered courtyard part of the garden and the kitchen or new living room.
“The garden is now like having a new outside room,” says Michael. The project has also prompted the family to rethink how they live, with the television relegated to the small snug in the front of the bungalow. “No one ever goes in to watch it!” laughs Michael. “No TV was our best decision ever. Instead, we read, the children have the space to perform plays or play the piano and we can all be together.”
The design has not only given their growing children their own bedrooms, but they are constantly outside, with all life revolving around the newly created central spaces. “It’s been transformative for our family life,” says Michael.