This project had a simple brief, allow the client, who has accessibility issues, to move around freely in the house and to access the garden easily. Our designs for this small kitchen extension introduces a simple lead and oak canopy over an inside outside space used for dining or for sipping a cup of tea whilst observing the squirrels. All thresholds have been removed, doors widened and surfaces kept minimal to make the house easier to occupy. In the process we’ve added a space that’s a joy to inhabit. The canopy provides much needed shade in the summer, or cover from the drizzle in the autumn. Details have been carefully crafted and materials selected with care; a polished concrete bench extends to form a perch outside, a stainless-steel rainwater chain terminates in a white pebbled trough, timber posts float over the slate patio, and all contained under the warm embrace of the oak canopy.