The brief

This North Yorkshire home had the classic problem: a decent-sized garden and a house that turned its back on it. The owners wanted a single-storey rear extension that added a proper room and finally made the most of the outside space, but they weren’t after the big glass wall of bi-folds you see on every other extension. They wanted something a bit more classic, doors that opened onto the garden without the whole back of the house being glass, and a budget that stayed sensible.

What we did

We built a single-storey extension across the rear, matching the existing buff brick and the roof tiles so the new work reads as part of the original house. The roof runs as a lean-to against the two-storey wall behind, keeping the profile low and tidy and letting good head height into the new room.

For the glazing we went with a set of classic white French doors alongside a wide picture window, rather than bi-folds. It’s a look that suits a house like this beautifully. The doors open the room onto the garden, the picture window floods it with light and frames the view, and the whole elevation feels calm and traditional rather than trying too hard. (Not every extension needs a wall of folding glass. Sometimes French doors and a big window are the smarter, better-looking choice, and they’re kinder on the budget too.)

Outside, we laid a large porcelain patio running the full width of the extension and out into the garden. Porcelain’s the right call here, hard-wearing, low-maintenance and it keeps its colour, and laid in big-format slabs it gives a clean, contemporary finish that lifts the whole rear of the house. Fresh lawn up to the edge finishes it off. As with all our work, one team handled the lot, from the footings through to the last slab.

Underneath, this was a full structural build: foundations, matched brickwork, roof, steelwork where the original wall came out, glazing, and all the making good where new meets old.

The result

A bright, welcoming room that’s changed how the family uses the back of the house, opening onto a smart porcelain patio that makes the garden feel like an extra room in summer. Classic, well-proportioned and finished to a standard that looks like it’s always been there.