The Garden Room at ‘The House’ on Grove Place Lane, Penarth, was built for Colin and Sue Page in 2003. The architect was Graham Brooks of Hird and Brooks, Penarth; the consultant was Structural Engineer Peter Chapman of Penarth; the contractors were T. W. Boagey & Son. Roofing was provided by Kings Glassfibre, Barry; joinery and glazing by P & A Joinery and Glazing, Barry; heating and plumbing by Robert Hobbs of Dinas Powys, and the wall-waterfall built by Printmet Ltd Sully Moors Road, Penarth. The contract value was £75,400 (£1,176/m2).
The brief was to ‘created a garden room awat from the [late Victorian] house where a different, contrasting environment could be made. This garden room would also house a cloakroom, a utility room and a small kitchen to serve the garden room, and a library area for the client’s collection of books, videos and DVDs.’
It was also important to the clients that the extension was aesthetically pleasing to passers-by, as well as to themselves. Although the garden room was to be in a lane situation, it would be viewed by many parents who walked through the lane on their way to the nearby nursery.
According to Design Commission for Wales -Case Studies: ‘the site is at the convergence of two lanes and triangular in shape, the apex of which housed a garage and large workshop. A corridor was designed to link the house with the garden room via the cloakroom, eventually reaching a new car port replacing the garage. The garden room is accessible on all four sides, with large door openings flowing between the garden and the newly created courtyard. The set back of the garden room allowed a small pond to be created, with stepping stone access to the corridor.’
Graham Brooks wrote: ‘the building uses timber extensively with robust timber beams, all exposed, framing the entire structure, providing simplicity of form and expression, obviating the need for lintols and wall plates. At overhangs rafters are exposed with no added soffit, generous overhangs protect the building and cantilevered beams provide for their support.’ He chose to make the garden room a single-storey, flat roofed patio house because ‘it would provide 100% privacy and sunny environments for the public. Patio house make full use of the outdoor space where the entire dwelling enjoys the courtyard. The design also lent itself ‘to practical methods of prefabrication [which] allowed speed of construction.’
The garden room is orientated so that it could ‘enjoy the west sun from the courtyard, east sun from the garden and by setting the garden room back from the corridor with water in between, a large window would direct south sunshine into the room.’
‘As a result of the orientation, the long corridor was considered the perfect location for the client’s library. The architect sought to achieve a library-like quality in the space, with over nine meters of shelving and the addition of five coloured slit windows along the corridor, allows interesting splashes of light to play along the books. The use of all lights in the corridor is repeated throughout the new spaces to simulate the effect of the garden room being separate from the house and to produce reflections in the water.’ Lighting design is also important in the new car-port, which is lit by a light ‘located behind a beam which serves to light the car-port by reflecting light off the white wall and to provide an interesting effect illuminating the colours slit windows viewed from both courtyard and garden room.’
ON the use of material, Graham Brooks writes: ‘timber studding supports 300 x 100 exposed redwood beams, tantalised rafters, ply and a fibre-glass roof laid flat, a 2” kerb behind the gutter retains rainwater providing a pleasant first-floor outlook from the house and other house. Galvanised chains discharge all the rainwater into the pond, Courtyard walls are blockwork rendered white, timber stud walls are externally clad in tanalised plywood and tanalised sawn redwood, internally walls are lap rebated redwood boards with the ceiling in the same boarding but with a fine-sawn finish, walls and ceilings are left untreated. Floors throughout are brick paved with gas-fired underfloor heating, courtyard and patio are also brick paved.’ For the garden, Brooks designed an exterior ‘wall waterfall of aluminium trays discharging one into another, water being circulated by a pump via a pipe built into the wall, the sight and sound of this feature has been a big success.’
The Design Commission for Wales – Case Studies notes that the Garden Room had some good sustainability credentials: limestone which was found under an onsite rendered wall set to be demolished ‘was used to construct two back-to-back fireplaces, the remainder was used in the garden. Thoughtful building orientation, large glazed panels and timber windows enables the maximum use of daylight within the garden room. ‘High quality joinery provides air tightness.’
The Design Commission for Wales’s evaluation of the Garden Room is that: ‘this building commands its site confidently and provides a constant source of surprise and delight in its many and varied spaces. The extension allows for new types of living space not found in the existing home. The design illustrates how, on a small demanding site, a good design can transform a space.’ The Garden Room received a Wales Housing Design Award in 2004 from the Royal Society of Architects in Wales. One of the judges said “this flat-roofed garden room extension to an existing house clamed its site confidently and proved a constant source of surprise and delight as we discovered its many and varied spaces both internal and external. On a budget of around £70,000, the architect has demonstrated how good design can transform spaces. An awkwardly-shaped triangular site is now a haven for clients whose garden room ambitions have been satisfied and extended by an architect in command of his craft.’
Sources: document containing information supporting consideration for special prizes, written by Graham Brooks; Design Commission for Wales – Case Studies; and newspaper (hardcopy): thisispenarth.co.uk, published 28 October 2004
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 21st March 2022