Your Home Made Perfect

Punam and Anuj (2x2)

: 14, 2020

When Punam and Anuj bought their 1930s home in Surrey, they thought it would be the perfect place to build a life together. But they now fear they have made a big mistake. Thanks to a 1980s extension, there should be more than enough square footage in their five-bed property. But most of the space is wasted. The couple hope to start a family and be able to have their parents move in with them in the future. But two of the five so-called bedrooms aren’t even big enough to comfortably fit a bed, and the stingy family bathroom makes Anuj’s morning shower a miserable start to his working day. Downstairs, the dark, isolated kitchen leaves Punam, who does the bulk of the cooking, feeling cut off from the rest of the house. The couple agree that before they can move forward, they need to transform their house into a home they can feel proud of. But every conversation about how to fix it has so far run into the ground, because they can’t agree about how to begin. Architects Laura Jane Clark and Robert Jamison must rise to the challenge. For 1930s architecture enthusiast Laura, it is a chance to undo the problems caused by the later extension and give Punam and Anuj a home that is not just beautiful but deeply practical too. Meanwhile for Robert, all that space to play with is an opportunity to think radically about how to future-proof a family home. Using virtual reality, both architects showcase their dramatically different takes on the brief. Robert’s characteristically bold solution turns conventional wisdom quite literally on its head with a visually striking, flexible design. Laura pitches a fresh layout intended to welcome and invite from the moment Punam and Anuj arrive at the threshold, drawing them into a sensational light-filled, welcoming series of interconnected spaces. Both architects give the couple a vision of their home beyond their wildest dreams, but only one can be translated into real-world bricks and mortar. Having explored both designs i