House Plus: Imaginative Ideas for Extending Your Home

The first major publication to look at the array of contemporary architectural, interior, and lifestyle possibilities available to homeowners looking to add space to their dwellings.

An essential resource for anyone…
• who has outgrown their house
• who doesn't want to move
• who is looking for inspiration

Victorian row houses, 1950s modernist boxes, aging farmhouses—all old buildings eventually need updating and expanding if they are to function in the modern world and accommodate contemporary lifestyles. With housing becoming one of the safest forms of long-term investment, more and more people are choosing to augment their current house rather than move. Drawn from a variety of examples from around the world that reflect a wide spectrum of materials, styles, contexts, and influences, some sixty projects in House Plus provide a rich source of ideas and inspiration.

The book is organized into four sections that reflect the main areas for expansion and contain case studies that explore projects in detail. Above presents attic and loft conversions, showing how to work within rooflines, sightlines, and idiosyncratic spaces. Behind looks at back extensions and conservatories, and suggests how to improve links to the garden, bring the outdoors in, or add new architectural statements. Beside examines side extensions, considering smaller, transitional spaces that improve the flow of older or vertical floor layouts, or admit more light into a dark house. Below looks at basements and subterranean levels, revealing how to make the best of restricted space and limited natural light. Over 300 color illustrations.

Phyllis Richardson has written widely on interiors, travel, and architecture. Her publications include XS: Big Ideas, Small Buildings and StyleCity Paris. She lives in an expanded terraced house in London.