CASE STUDY: INTO THE WOODS

There’s a reason so many fairytales are set in the woods. There’s something magical about being surrounded by trees, even if there isn’t always a gingerbread house waiting in a nearby clearing. Looking out the window and spotting wildlife doing its thing amid the greens and browns, with sunlight streaming through the branches, is something of a tonic.

- Miriam Methuen-Jones

BRIEF To create a kitchen extension that would blend old and new architecture and open up the house to views of the surrounding woodland.

DIMENSIONS Approx 13m long by 6m wide. Extending saw the house grow from 160 sq.m to 275 sq.m.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE Dealing with the extension’s huge footprint. The island had to be extra-long to fill the space – which in turn meant finding a vast slab of granite for it.

KITCHEN DESIGN AND INSTALLATION Angus + Mack, angusandmack.com

The owners of this 1880s cottage in Fife clearly agree. They loved their home’s woodland setting, but felt a disconnect between their gorgeous surroundings and the way they were living. A major renovation was needed, which called for almost everything to be updated and renewed, from the roof to the heating and the electrics, as well as the building of an extension which almost doubled the cottage’s footprint. Angus + Mack, an Edinburgh firm specialising in bespoke staircases, was commissioned to create a new set of open-tread stairs. While on site, the team expressed an interest in tackling the kitchen as well (a new departure for the business) and the owners quickly agreed, knowing it would bring cohesion between the old and new elements of the house.