Our cities, here in the Netherlands even more than anywhere else, are becoming more populated every day. The number of square meters of plot per inhabitant is decreasing by the minute. The price of real estate is skyrocketing. New visions to solve the problem in the future are emerging and discussed on architectural, social and political platforms. Old and new ideas about public ownership and concept sharing are examined and analyzed on various aspects of modern life.
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But, what should you do if right now your current house just doesn’t fit your lifestyle anymore and you can’t afford to simply swap it for a bigger one or wait for future solutions? We suggest to have a look at your property with the same sustainable approach we would advise for any of your beloved belongings and analyse if you can reuse, repair or recycle it. In terms of a house this means remodelling it to your current needs, fixing the broken parts and closing the energy leaks and finally, being conscious of the lifecycle of all the materials you make use of and dispose.
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The majority of our clients come to us with this exact dilemma. Of course, each house and owner are different and they all need a slightly different solution, but there are many aspects that they do have in common. Often the solution is a new, bespoke layout and a relatively small extension to the house. And, as the majority of the properties are terraced houses, you can extend only in four ways: to the back, up, down or internally.
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The steps of designing an extension project
At CNCPT A, we divide the process of expanding a building or house into 9 different steps. Below we explain exactly what these steps entail.