The stair now cuts through the house with a clear line of sight from one level to the next. A dark metal frame, glass screening and open treads turn the vertical connection into a measured sequence rather than a closed shaft. From the living level, the view drops through the void toward the lower floor, where the newly usable basement has been brought into the plan as living space.

A basement converted into living space

What had once been a low basement, with a ceiling height that no longer suited daily use, is now part of the home’s main circulation. The basement converted living space accommodates a TV room, a guest room with its own bathroom, and a compact work area. The steps above it are visible, not hidden away. That decision gives the lower floor a direct relationship with the rest of the house and keeps the route through the extension easy to read.

The new extension with open stair void does more than add room. It ties the basement into the plan and replaces the earlier, tired veranda and roof terrace arrangement with a sharper architectural edge. The double-height stair brings daylight deeper into the house, while the glass stair railing keeps the view open across the split levels. The result is less about a single dramatic gesture and more about how one opening orders the whole sequence of rooms.

Inside the renewed main floor

On the main floor, the long-standing arrangement of living room, dining room and kitchen remains in place. What changes is the surface treatment. Walls, floors and joinery were renewed so the rooms feel edited rather than reworked. The kitchen island with marble look sits in the center of that quiet reset, its pale surface catching the light before it reaches the darker cabinetry behind it.

The kitchen wall reads as built-in furniture, with a flush extractor and clean vertical lines that keep appliances from breaking up the room. Around it, the new finishes sharpen the edges of the original plan. Instead of a complete reshuffle, the house uses material and proportion to define the spaces. The dining area stays open to the kitchen, and the living zone is held by the same restrained palette of wood, stone-like surfaces and painted walls.

Light, railings and the stair void

The stair is the most legible interior element in the project. Its open form lets the double-height stair space do the work that a solid enclosure would block: daylight reaches down, sightlines stretch across the void, and the upper floor feels connected to the lower rooms. The glass stair railing reads as a thin edge rather than a barrier, which keeps attention on the changing levels and the narrow shadows cast by the dark frame.

Several images show how the stair runs beside large openings, so the void is never isolated from the rest of the plan. At one moment it appears as a transparent landing area; at another, as a cut through the structure where wall light, railing and tread meet. That clarity gives the circulation a calm rhythm. It also makes the basement converted living space feel less like an addition and more like part of the same spatial order.

Rooms arranged around daylight

Upstairs, the bathroom and walk-in closet were moved to the centre of the plan. That shift gives the three bedrooms access to a facade window each, which is a simple but effective change in how the floor reads. The bedrooms are left with clearer outer edges, while the service spaces sit where they can support the plan without taking daylight from the rooms that need it most.

The double vanity bathroom uses a long continuous countertop, grey wall tile and a glazed shower enclosure. It is not the main story of the house, but it confirms the same approach seen elsewhere: practical functions are grouped together, and the stronger perimeter rooms are left open to light. The middle of the floor becomes a working core, not dead space.

Storage and a measured change in layout

The walk-in closet sits with the bathroom at the centre of the upper floor, reducing the pressure on the bedroom edges. That move also explains the more generous window access in each bedroom. Instead of carving up the perimeter, the layout protects it. The bedrooms keep their own outlooks, while the central zone absorbs the functions that do not need direct exposure.

Seen together, the stair void below and the central upper-floor core above show the same architectural logic. The house gains room where it lacked usable height, and the plan is tightened where daylight matters most. Nothing is overdrawn. Doors, openings and storage stay close to the structure of the rooms.

A garden terrace framed by large slabs

Outside, the urban garden patio tiles lay out a flat surface between high grey retaining walls and planted borders. The paving is broad and measured, which keeps the terrace visually connected to the interior rather than separate from it. Large glazed doors make that transition direct, so the terrace reads as another room at ground level rather than a detached outdoor zone.

The garden feels built from the same set of materials as the house: glass, stone-like surfaces and dark edges. Raised planters and the tall boundary walls keep the space contained, while the patterned paving gives it a clear grid. From the interior, the terrace acts as a bright end point to the sightline that begins at the stair and moves through the lower floor.

Throughout the house, the glass stair railing remains the visual thread that links the levels. It appears in the stair void, beside the renewed rooms and against the light from the upper windows, making the house read as one continuous interior sequence. The basement converted living space, the extension with open stair void and the renewed main floor all depend on that connection, rather than on separate moments. The project is strongest where the sections meet: at the stair, at the opening, and at the edge of the terrace.