The site occupies a hillside location in Guildford with panoramic views over the Wey valley and Guildford. The new building is a series of single storey white boxes connected and punctuated with expanses of glass. The site was previously a tennis court and an orchard belonging to the adjacent property and on 1960 architect Douglas Bundy was commissioned to design the original dwelling which was completed in 1962. This comprised a pavilion type timber clad room perched over a double garage containing the main living space with a low lying rectangular brick pitched roofed bungalow. When our clients purchased the property it was in a dilapidated state and too small for their needs. As well as requiring additional bedrooms the client wanted to achieve flexible and very open plan living spaces that were multi-functional and adaptable to family changes in age, occupancy and interests. There was also a strong emphasis having an almost seamless transition between the internal and external spaces. The new dwelling retains the original elevated living room ‘box’. This is set at a higher level to the rest of the house with the additional accommodation provided in the new bedroom wing which forms the new courtyard. A new study ‘pod’ partly buried into the hillside completes the courtyard enclosure. A glass hinge forms the transition between the living spaces and the bedroom wing. The project was completed in April 2006.