PROPERTY | Potential

Who Lives Here

Grainne Duggan & Micheál Grace
for Property: 2 bed, 2-storey red-brick, mid-
is available ,
Angela Carr through her Practice
consul ta tion
e he lps families terraced house with small rear yard
, whe re sh ial of
living:room identify the potent Where: Ringsend, Dublin 4
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recognize an Problem Area: Dining room at centre of
their home.
0895 house with no natural light and no space
t. 087 678
ingroom.ie .ie
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Find Your Property’s

Hidden Potential...
Architect, Angela Carr continues our series of articles on how to find your property’s hidden
potential. In this issue she highlights how lateral thinking can generate useable space...

Grainne and Micheál love the convenient location of their red-

brick terraced home in Dublin. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from
Property Pros
Micheál’s work and near Dart links to the city centre. However, they  Great location in the sought after D4 postcode;
find the internal space difficult to use. When Micheál bought the  Close to workplace, city and amenities;
house two years ago, it had already been extended, using up  Manageable size - perfect for a young professional couple;
almost all the available space in the small rear yard. This limited its  The rooflight provides some, although minimal, natural light in the kitchen.
improvement potential. The couple love to entertain but the dining
space (in the middle of their home) is so dark they have to use
Property Cons

artificial lighting even on a bright sunny day. Both occasionally


work from home too and the dark dining area is the only place 4m high wall in rear yard limits access to natural light;


available to do this. Although space is at a premium in their city Lack of natural light restricts lifestyle and use of rooms;
home, they are not getting the full benefit of it. Existing extension is built out to rear wall – this exacerbates the problem of poor light and


Grainne also owns an apartment, currently rented, and in the restricts views from inside the house;


falling housing market doesn’t want to increase their financial Bathroom is the only rear downstairs room with natural light – a wasted resource;


outgoings or investment by spending a lot of money on Existing bathroom is too large for current needs and not in the best location;


extensive refurbishment. With all things considered, here are No room upstairs to relocate bathroom;
my initial thoughts on how they could improve their home. Don’t want to make huge financial investment in refurbishing a ‘short-term’ property.

60 Decorate & Improve Your Home

 Potential | PROPERTY

Very high rear

boundary wall

Rear Yard - no
room to extend

Bathroom - Too big, blocking

access to natural light

ORIGINAL LAYOUT

Dining Room -
No natural light

Living Room

Rooflight

Small galley
kitchen

Initial Consultation
Grainne and Micheál explained how they
inherited a dark and poorly designed extension
from the previous owners and were looking for
some ideas on how they could improve the living
space. “Our biggest concern is the dining area,
which is in the centre of the ground floor with no
natural light.” As the couple already plan to
upgrade the existing galley kitchen and floor
finishes on the ground floor, they wanted to see if
there was any way they could resolve their main
issue of poor natural light and an unusable dining
space as part of the overall renovation process.
After viewing the house, it was clear their options
were extremely limited. They couldn’t build out
because the previous extension utilised all
available space and they couldn’t build up because
it would block light at first floor level. The only
solution I could see was within the existing space.
My Assessment
In a situation like this, where both space and access
to natural light are restricted, my first thought is to
prioritise ‘space’ in accordance to need for natural
light. On the ground floor, Grainne and Micheál want
to accommodate a living room, kitchen and dining
area, a possible work space and a bathroom. Of all of
these uses, the bathroom has the lowest priority
claim on natural light. It would always be my
preference to have natural light and ventilation to
the smallest room whenever possible, but not at the
expense of higher priority use spaces like kitchens,
dining or working areas.
Restrictions are not
necessarily a bad thing because
they encourage lateral thinking and
can often lead to more creative
solutions. In this property, there are only
two places where natural light can be
brought into the house – at the front, where the
living room is currently located, and at the back,
either facing into the small yard or from the roof
over the single storey extension. Generally, the
couple are happy with their current living room, but
find the relatively open plan layout of the ground
floor quite restrictive when they entertain – the
galley kitchen is small and unsociable, while access
to the living room from the dining room, rather
than the hallway, can be awkward. All of these
considerations will have to be factored into the
proposed changes.
centre of the house, where the lack of light is less of
a problem, makes it possible for the couple to create
a larger, brighter, more sociable kitchen/dining space
at the rear. Some much needed storage will further
ensure the rest of the dark central space is put to
good use. When I put this suggestion to the couple
they were delighted. “Your suggestion to move the
bathroom which requires the least amount of natural
light was a total surprise and not something we had
anticipated at all. But of course, it makes loads of
sense, and would also give us the opportunity to
have a kitchen/dining area which is very appealing.”
In a situation like this,
where both space and
access to natural light are
restricted, my first thought
is to prioritise ‘space’ in
accordance to need for
natural light.
water and drainage pipe work are required, because
this can be messy and expensive. However, in this
case, there are no real alternatives. The downsides
are outweighed by the advantages of creating more
usable space and enhancing the value of the
property. The compact ground floor layout means the
extent of the alterations required to connect into
existing drains etc. will be relatively small and
therefore cost-effective. Depending on the depth
and location of existing services, it may even be
possible to run the connections from the new
bathroom above ground, concealed in the base of

Moving the over-sized bathroom from the rear of Irrespective of budgets, I would always avoid the storage wall units in the kitchen, further
the house, where it monopolized natural light, to the moving bathrooms or kitchens where changes to reducing costs.

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RENEWABLES
Altogether in time. FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Right now, money is tight. And, with the

housing market the way it is, chances are
space is tight too.

Do you need the space in your home to

work harder?
Or want to find the most cost-effective way to
add space and extend?
Do you have ideas for improvements but aren't
sure if they will work?
Or do you want buyers to see that there’s more
to your home than meets the eye...

Whatever your dilemma, whatever your

budget - we’re here to help.
With our extensive experience of housing
design & the Irish Planning system, we can
help you make the most of your home - from
design consultations and property assessments to a
full architectural design service.
We even offer regular free design and planning advice
here: www.livingroomblog.ie

Call us or drop us a line and tell us what we can do for you.

your home
with
t. +353 (0)87 678 0895 e. info@livingroom.ie www.livingroom.ie

62 Decorate & Improve Your Home

 Potential | PROPERTY

Door changed
to window
Rear yard
maintained

New storage wall

PROPOSED LAYOUT

New shower
room located in
darkest part of
house

Living Room -
partition
removed to
create more
space

Rooflight

New open plan

kitchen diner

New storage wall

My Recommendations
With all factors considered, including the couple’s low budget, here are my recommendations:
• Remove partition wall between kitchen & bathroom to create a larger open plan
kitchen/dining space to rear.
• Close up existing doorway to bathroom.
• Remove rear bathroom wall and insert full-height glazed window/door.
• Block up existing rear door to worktop height and insert new window.
• Build new partition walls to form internal shower room.
• Connect new fittings to existing water and drainage mains – make good the floor and apply
new finishes.
• Fit new (or re-use existing) bathroom appliances, kitchen units and wall/floor finishes.
• Build new storage units in hallway between kitchen and living room.
• Workspace for home working to be incorporated into either hallway or kitchen storage wall.
• Remove part of existing partition between living and existing dining area to expand Your suggestion to move
living room.
• Internal/external insulation options to be explored according to budget. the bathroom was a total
• Paint rear boundary wall white to reflect light back into the house.
surprise, but of course, it
Budget makes loads of sense, and
The final costs here will very much depend on the quality and style of products the couple
choose, how much they decide to re-use or do themselves. For example, if they were to keep the has given us the
existing kitchen units and put the money toward correcting the spatial elements as a first
priority, it would be a major saving - the same goes for the bathroom fittings. These options, opportunity to have a
along with simple porcelain floor tiles for both the kitchen and bathroom would make the
project much more practical and affordable, particularly if it’s a short term property. On this kitchen/dining area
basis, I would estimate a budget figure of around €12,500. *A grant may be available toward the
cost of energy saving improvements such as cavity wall and roofspace insulation so this would
again be beneficial to the couple. In NI contact the Energy Saving Trust, 028 9072 6007 and in
ROI contact Sustainable Energy Ireland, 1850 927000.

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