Case Study

Between August and November 2005 Acumen was commissioned to deliver a one floor extension to a traditional “two up, two down” Victorian house. The project involved not only a single storey extension to gain more living space, but also moving a downstairs bathroom upstairs, installing a new kitchen and refurbishing wooden floors.

Homeowner David Bartram insisted that first the work be modern yet sympathetic to the building’s Victorian heritage, second maximise the living space available and third adhere to a strict budget. In addition, at project inception the precise details, layout drawings and planning consents were not in place.

Acumen found an architect specialising in period property extensions and was quickly able to translate the customer’s needs into drawings, descriptions and project plans with required approvals. Working backwards from the customer’s budget, detailed plans were agreed and a project time-line was constructed to ensure that the work would all be completed long before Christmas.

David states “I was particularly impressed by the excellent communications throughout the project, the flexibility and honesty made it a great experience to work with Acumen. At times during the project I would request changes, such as wall-sunken bathroom taps and that would never faze Acumen, who just got on with it. They did not try to sell anything more and came in exactly on time, budget and to my specification.”

As part of Acumen's desire to create a 'wow factor', a set of four bi-folding oak and glass doors were commissioned for the rear elevation. This provides a truly bespoke layout that merges the house onto the garden space achieving an exceptional sense of space and size.

David further stated “Based on mine and my friends’ previous experiences of building work I can honestly say that Acumen operates on a different level with better communication, professionalism and empathy.  I found them to be intelligent and articulate. I have even considered in the past moving to Scotland to be close to family and I would pay for them to travel there for a project should I need further building work”.