Michelle is very laid back telling me about the renovation of her Surrey home, particularly when you consider the circumstances. Not only did the process begin in March 2020, just as Covid hit, but she coordinated the entire project while living in America, and did not visit the house at all while the works were being carried out. “I saw it for the first time in October 2022, and absolutely everything was done,” Michelle says. “I literally got on a flight from America and walked through the door and everything was set, the kitchen, the appliances, it was all workable and completed, and there was no mess, nothing.”

Michelle and her husband, Brian, bought the house in a village near Dorking in 2014 when Brian’s job moved from Abu Dhabi to Epsom. They didn’t know the area at all (having lived in Staffordshire and Scotland previously) but immediately saw potential in the property and put in an offer the same day as viewing it for the first time. Michelle then lived in the house for 2 years before relocating to America but knew that she wanted to return to the house eventually. “My intention was always to come back here, and I wanted to extend it,” says Michelle.

“With the extension it would be just the right size for us to return to, for the kids to be teenagers in, but also for us to be in once they were no longer at home”.
So began the process of finding an architect in the area, and they put in calls to several local firms, but it was Jamie Campbell from Campbell & Co Architects that immediately stood out with his vision and his calm, personable, professional manner.

“Jamie came back to us very quickly and he was really excited by the project,” remembers Michelle, “I told him what I envisaged but I didn’t know if it was doable from an architectural point of view. Jamie came back with a plan, and we just said, ‘Yes, this is it!’”
It is easy to understand why the house was crying out for change.

Located within a large garden and looking over National Trust woodland, the surroundings of the original house were totally disconnected from the internal arrangement, with only a small kitchen window overlooking the view, and an entrance that involved approaching from the side, walking round to the back and trudging through the house to the kitchen at the front, but with no access from the kitchen to the garden.

The dining room, which was an extension, had access to a courtyard at the back, but not to the garden. “On a very basic level,” says Michelle, “we knew we had to get rid of the horrible dining room that had been attached – we wanted an open plan kitchen/dining area, and a view over the garden.”

The design they landed on (which also included creating a main bedroom with an en suite) would involve increasing the footprint of the house significantly, and Jamie set about working around the various designations of the area, including being a Site of Nature Conservation Importance. “These designations can make it really hard to extend considerably,” says Jamie, “but we managed to increase the overall footprint by about 43%, which was a bit of a planning win.”

Design played a huge part in securing permission, and bringing in sympathetic nods to the hung tile, Surrey vernacular (without becoming a pastiche) became central to creating a contemporary addition that paid homage to the original lodge. “We came up with an engineered oak element wrapping from the original house around the extension, we used copper flashing, we used plain tiles for the roof and a club tile façade. We wanted people to know that this was the new, contemporary space, but very much with a nod to the old, original house.”

The copper in particular was a big hit with Michelle, something she would never have thought of herself but that she can see now really works and blends beautifully into the house.

Internally Michelle and Brian wanted an open plan living space where the family could all be together.

“It’s a classic thing in older Victorian or Edwardian houses,” says Jamie, “there was a more formal way of living, and you tended to get all the different rooms off one corridor with no connection, so addressing that, alongside being able to access the garden and making it an extension of those living spaces, became the focus.”

Now as you approach the house entrance, a small patio area runs below a gable with club tiles, where engineered solid oak and floating glass look through to the kitchen and living area so that people inside can now see when someone is arriving at the house.

Large sliding doors covering two timber bays give seamless access from inside to outside, while in another corner of the open plan arrangement, triple bi-fold doors open up to the patio connecting it with the kitchen, dining area and living space.

A vaulted ceiling adds height and drama to the single storey extension, allowing light from the garden and the views beyond to be enjoyed from multiple angles. The kitchen is set back slightly, benefitting from a slot window with a view, and subsequent light, from a small courtyard.

“Because of the orientation,” says Jamie, “the sun comes over the courtyard in different ways at different times of year, and at certain times you get a shaft of light coming through the window which lights up the kitchen.” Next to the dining area, a Crittall-style door with reeded glass leads through to a pantry area, and through the back, a good-sized utility/boot room houses the boiler, and the washer, dryer, coat racks and tools are all cleverly hidden away.

As well as being the architect, Jamie was also the contract administrator, working very closely with the builder (Joe Morris at Buildtech Developments), garden designer (Barbara Samitier at Moss Studio) and interior and kitchen designer (Nathan Kingsbury at Nathan Kingsbury Design). Jamie and Barbara had worked together previously and Jamie instantly saw that there was scope for a transition area between the car park and the house that Barbara would be perfect for: “She created this landscape that you walk through and you almost can’t avoid the plants, you actively want to touch them.

Every time I go there it’s different and it looks beautiful. Everything is bee friendly, and even in the dead of winter, there’s colour.” She also added some trees to help screen the garden from the main road and to create areas of privacy in what was quite an open area.
Nathan Kingsbury was also recommended by Jamie and put together the interior design package, including the bespoke cabinets, the lighting, the colours and the kitchen.

“His attention to detail is just unbelievable,” says Michelle. “He spent so long getting to know us and understanding what we wanted and our style – he would send us tiles and painted pieces of wood in the post. He was absolutely great.” All of the cabinets were made bespoke to align with the vaulted ceiling, and he created a larger than usual hood to go with the sizeable range that Brian was particularly keen to include.

Subtle contrasts in materials on the worktops – a white worktop at the back and a mottled concrete effect worktop on the island – add a sense of interest and zoning to the space, and the use of concrete tiles on the wall below the vaulted ceiling create unexpected warmth, particularly when married with the timber on the floor and doors. “The kitchen is amazing,” says Jamie. “Nathan just knocked our socks off when we saw the kitchen design and once it was installed as well. He has an amazing ability to listen to clients and create something that answers all the requirements they wanted and more.”

Making a transatlantic build a success depended heavily on excellent communication, which Jamie went above and beyond with from the get-go. This included involving a lot of visuals to help Brian and Michelle envisage the house and taking extra care to make sure that everything in the design was clear and understood and that there were no ‘blind spots’. In the same vein, the word ‘trust’ permeates both my conversations with Michelle and Jamie. From Michelle’s side, being able to trust that the house was in safe hands while they were so far away was absolutely integral to making the process feasible.

“We were really lucky to find the professionals we did. I think they took a lot of ownership of the project because of the trust we put in them,” says Michelle. From Jamie’s side, being instilled with such a high level of trust incentivised all of his team to give 110%. “It’s one of the largest investments you’ll make aside from buying the house itself. You’ve got to get on with the client, but they also need to know that you’re capable of delivering the project. It’s a real honour, actually, to be trusted with something so precious.”

Address Book:

Campbell & Co Architects campbellandcoarchitects.com Barbara Samitier moss-studio.co.uk
Buildtech Developments buildtechdevelopments.co.uk
Nathan Kingsbury nathankingsbury.com
Samuely Consulting Structural Engineers samuely.co.uk