Going with the flow

Shirley and Ian Hiscock signed up for Architect in the House last year because they wanted to improve their house’s awkward layout. They didn’t want to move house, but were hoping for a more contemporary and unified space.

Having registered with the scheme, the Hiscocks and Jonathan Dale from Jane Duncan Architects arranged a mutually convenient consultation, which was most enlightening!

‘Our architect walked in and immediately, without prompting, put into words what we had been feeling about the house and what was needed to make the most of the stunning views surrounding it‘, Shirley said.

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She was so impressed with the consultation that she commissioned Jonathan to carry out the necessary works.

‘The house is now a light, airy and versatile space’, Shirley says. ‘We can close off certain areas using installed screens, or open them out to create bigger rooms. The ‘flow’ of the house is much improved. Our home now sits harmoniously with our lifestyle and means we no longer have to fight with the impractical original layout.’

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For his part, Jonathan said: ‘I enjoyed working with Shirley and Ian very much and was pleased with the transformation we managed to achieve, especially on a limited budget. Simple ideas like relocating the staircase to a new entrance hall at the front of the house were key to being able to create open plan living rooms at the rear. We also decided on a limited palette of materials to be used externally which helped keep the look simple and the costs down’.

Shirley feels that her architect’s expertise and intuition was key to the project’s success: ‘Thank you to Jonathan for giving us the house we didn’t know we wanted!’

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