Like many houses in Edinburgh this detached villa had been built with poor access to the garden and with a gloomy kitchen to one side of the building. The new extension provides a large kitchen and dining area with direct access to the garden. A new ‘back’ door at the front of the house gives easy access through a glass slot between the nineteenth century villa and the garage/utility room, rebuilt in sandstone.

The kitchen is seen as a continuation of the series of sub­stantial public rooms along the garden and south side of the house. It is an elegant glass-walled pavilion with a very slender floating roof and fully retractable glass doors to the south.