Kensington Street, Brighton

With a plot only measuring 34sqm, our project at Kensington Street in Brighton was certainly one of our tightest urban challenges.

The brief was to design a new three-storey house in place of an existing single-storey garage on a high density terraced street in Brighton.

We needed to achieve the right balance between delivering a home that was larger than its existing neighbouring terraces, whilst still fitting in with the existing street scene and adhering with Brighton and Hove City Council’s space standards.

Although a street of terraced properties, Kensington Street has a varied street frontage, allowing us more scope in the design. Still, windows on the ground and first floors are in keeping with the street character, and the extra storey is set back from the front elevation to reduce its overall appearance.

A common challenge in terraced properties is how to bring natural light into a scheme. This was particularly an issue here as it backed directly onto another property meaning there was no opportunity for rear-facing windows.

To combat this, we incorporated light tubes at the rear of the property, which, along with a clever sectional design, allows natural light into lower levels.

Following positive communication and liaison with the planning officer, we obtained planning permissions for 70sqm of gross new floorspace first time around.