A snooker room extension with a walk-on rooflight by Swift Unlimited
A 5m x 8.8m snooker room built off the side of a house in Denbighshire, with the lighting planned around the table and a walk-on rooflight set into a roof designed to be used.
Swift Unlimited are best known on the Guide for their garden rooms and annexes, but they also design and build house extensions, starting from the same blank sheet. This one in Denbighshire was built directly off the side of the house as a snooker room, with space for dining and entertaining at one end.
The client wanted a room that was connected to the home but still had an identity of its own. Most of what makes it noteworthy is in the planning the Swift Unlimited team did, which shows the detail they go into before the on-site build begins. The lighting was laid out around the snooker table, and the flat roof was designed to be used to enjoy the views beyond, with a large walk-on rooflight set into it.
At a glance
- Use: a snooker room with space for dining and entertaining at one end, opening straight into the house.
- Size: 5m wide and 8.8m deep, standing 3.3m high from the floor level of the house.
- Lighting: three dimmable zones, for the table, the playing area and the dining end, all fixed on the floor plan before building began.
- Roof: a flat roof designed to be used as a seating area, with a large walk-on rooflight over the dining table.
- Build: around four weeks on site, at a cost of £95,000.
- Company: Swift Unlimited, who design and build garden rooms, annexes and extensions on a turnkey basis.
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A room planned around the table
The extension is 5m wide and 8.8m deep, and stands 3.3m high from the floor level of the house. That gives room for a full-size snooker table towards the back, with space to play around it, and a dining table at the front where the glazing meets at the corner.
The table light is a suspended rectangular LED frame, hung on fine wires. The floor plan fixes its position exactly: centred across the width of the room, 3.12m from the rear wall, so it sits square over the table. Six downlights around it light the area where players stand, and another six light the dining end.
Each of the three is a separate zone, and a four-gang dimmer by the opening to the house controls them along with the outside lights. The room can be lit for a frame of snooker, for a meal, or for both at once. Radiator and socket positions were fixed on the same drawing, so the whole room was worked out around the table before building began.
A roof designed to be used
The roof was not treated as a basic flat roof. It was designed so it could be used as a seating area, which meant the structure had to be planned for it from the start. The design allows for a separate external staircase at the rear and a balcony with a glazed balustrade.
The large walk-on rooflight sits over the dining area. From below, it brings daylight down a deep lined opening onto the table. From above, it can be walked on, so the roof keeps its full area for seating. The glass was lifted into place by crane during the build.
The rooflight is fitted. The staircase and balustrade are part of the design, and the client may complete them at a later date.
Joined to the house, with its own identity
The extension opens straight into the house. The floor is Invictus LVT chosen to match the main house, so the same finish carries through the opening.
Outside, the walls are clad in smooth tongue-and-groove fibre cement boards in chalk white, a pale finish that sits alongside the house’s render without copying it. The doors, windows, soffit and fascia are all anthracite grey, and the fascia, in powder-coated steel, forms a deep band around the roof edge.
Bi-fold doors open the front of the room to the garden, and sliding doors carry the glazing round the corner, so the dining end has glass on two sides and looks out over the wooded hills beyond. At the back, the corner of the plan is cut at an angle, with slim windows set into the rear walls.
Four weeks on site
The build took around four weeks, which is quick for a project with this much structural planning, and cost £95,000.
Swift Unlimited describe the main challenge as bringing several requirements into one clean design. It had to work as an extension, take use at roof level, include a large walk-on rooflight, light the snooker table properly and still look sharp from the outside. The client was pleased enough with the result to raise the possibility of a second build.
As with their garden rooms and annexes, Swift Unlimited offer a turnkey service on extensions. They handle the planning and the structural calculations, carry out the build on-site, and complete the finishing, including the electrics and any plumbing.
Learn more about Swift Unlimited
To find out more about Swift Unlimited’s bespoke garden rooms, annexes and extensions, visit swiftorg.co.uk. You can contact the team on 01625 875 588 or at support@swiftunlimited.co.uk to discuss your project.
