This is the rear elevation of the house. To the left is a small and rather pretty addition built in the 1930's to extend the original dining room. Oddly, the builder used the garden wall as a structural wall which has resulted in this addition moving and rotating away from the main house. The movement has been exacerbated by the stone pediment which is too heavy for the structure. It has to go...

Following on from the great success of using a garden wall as a structural wall, another addition was built on the same principle by the current owners to house a larger kitchen area. Unsurprisingly the same thing happened again, leaving cracks large enough to house a small family in either side of the structure. This beauty is to the right of the picture and will be demolished with the earlier addition to make way for the new extension.

We have been lucky enough to engage the services of Pam McCretton, an award winning architect (part of the team responsible for retail spaces like Armani and Harrods personal shopping area - nothing like punching above your weight is there?) The beauty of working with Pam, aside from her swankiness, is that she is completely practical and although used to dealing with wealthy clients is also able to deliver on a budget with fewer noughts. She and her partner are building a house of the Isle of Wight which is rather swish if anyone is looking for a holiday home to purchase....

Pam has come up with four options for our extension and I would love to know what you think of the following designs

This has glazing across the width, with the narrower panels folding back to open on to the garden. The panels to the left of the picture are static. This option has rendered walls which would be white to reflect light back into the space. The panels inside, to the left, are concealing storage and also an entrance to a utility area which runs along the side of the house. This design opens up most of the ground floor, save for the large room at the front of the house which will be a more formal sitting room.

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This design has cedar cladding around the recess and a different glazing configuration. The wall to the left has high glazing to allow extra light to enter.

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Option three incorporates glass along the party wall line - which would be great if there was a better view. I am also less keen on this option as I think it will be hard to place furnishings without obscuring the view. There is also the privacy issue - no late night fridge dashes in just the undercrackers with this one I fear.

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This would be a light filled extravaganza but I don't think we could make the space work for the amount of furniture/detritus of life that we have. I have often admired glass structures such as this but the most successful seem to have the least in them. Whilst I am tempted to try this look I know that practically we do not have the lifestyle for this look - boo hiss.

Anyway...here they are. We have chosen our favourite but welcome thoughts and comments.

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