A detached house on a wide plot
19 Glebe Road in Purley on Thames is a detached house on a wide plot within West Berkshire. The owners wanted to create two homes rather than one oversized house. The approach chosen was to extend the existing building to the side and rear and then subdivide it into a pair of semi detached dwellings, which keeps the scale of the street and avoids a separate new building in the garden.
Pre application advice first
Because subdivision raises questions about character, parking and garden sizes, we sought pre application advice from West Berkshire Council before drawing the final scheme. The advice shaped the extent of the two storey side extension, the setback from the front wall and the arrangement of the driveway, so the submitted scheme responds directly to the officer's comments.
Design of the pair
The two storey side and rear extension mirrors the existing house so that, once subdivided, the building reads as a balanced pair of semis. Roof pitches, eaves heights and window proportions are repeated, and each home has its own front door, stair, living space opening to the garden and parking on the reorganised driveway. Internal layouts were checked against national space standards.
A full package prepared in house
We produced every supporting document ourselves: the planning statement, an energy and sustainability statement, a biodiversity net gain assessment using the small sites metric showing gains of 51.9 percent for habitats and 77.2 percent for hedgerows, and a trees and landscaping statement.
Why subdivision rather than a new house
On many wide plots the instinct is to build a new house in the side garden. At Glebe Road, extending and splitting the existing house gave two homes while keeping one building in the street, which reduced the impact on the character of the area and on neighbours. It also meant the driveway and gardens could be shared out logically, with each home getting a usable private garden and its own parking.
A complete in house package
Larger householder and minor dwelling schemes now need several technical reports. Preparing them in house kept the drawings and statements consistent: the BNG metric, landscaping proposals and sustainability measures all match the plans, which reduces the chance of validation queries or requests for further information.
Energy and sustainability
The energy and sustainability statement sets out how the extended building would reduce energy use, with improved insulation, efficient heating and water saving fittings for both homes.
