Architectural Design Tips for Homes in Manchester

Across Greater Manchester, from the Edwardian terraces of Chorlton to the larger semis of Didsbury and the detached properties of Bramhall and Altrincham, homeowners are increasingly choosing to redesign rather than relocate. And the ones who get the most out of that investment share something in common: they made good decisions early, before anything was drawn or built.

The following principles are what we work through with clients at the start of every residential project at NADA Architects. They apply whether you're planning an extension, a loft conversion, or a whole-house remodel, and getting them right costs nothing extra, but getting them wrong is expensive to undo.

Start With Orientation

Which direction does your garden face? It's the first question we ask at feasibility stage, and it shapes almost everything that follows. Manchester's north-west climate means we have fewer sunny days than the south of England, so capturing whatever daylight is available is a genuine design priority, not an afterthought.

A rear extension on a south or south-west-facing aspect can be designed to bring morning and afternoon light deep into the kitchen and living areas. A north-facing one needs rooflights, borrowed light, or a carefully considered layout to achieve the same effect. The difference in how the finished space feels, and how much it costs to heat, is significant.

We assess sun path as part of every feasibility study before we draw a single line. It determines where the kitchen-diner should sit, where glazed doors will actually earn their place, and where we need to manage summer overheating. Getting orientation right is free. Correcting it later is not.

The difference between a home that feels dark and one that feels uplifting is rarely about room size. It's almost always about how and where light gets in.

Intelligent Space Planning

Good space planning starts with how you actually live, not with a blank floor plan. Before anything is drawn up, we map a client's daily routine: how mornings work, where coats and bags land, whether anyone works from home, how the household will look in five years. That conversation shapes the layout more than any design trend.

Manchester's housing stock creates specific challenges. Victorian terraces in Chorlton and Withington often have deep, narrow footprints with the kitchen cut off from the garden. Standard rear extensions solve part of the problem but can create tunnel-like spaces without careful planning. Semi-detached properties in Didsbury and Sale frequently have underused side passages that, with the right side return extension, can become the utility link that transforms the entire ground floor.

The principle we apply is straightforward: primary living spaces should capture the best light and the most floor area. Secondary spaces, bathrooms, utility rooms, boot rooms, matter enormously to daily life but don't need prime aspect. Transitional spaces like hallways should be minimised. Every extension and loft conversion project we work on involves some rethinking of the existing layout alongside the new addition, because adding space without improving connectivity rarely delivers what families are hoping for.

Open Plan Living

Open plan remains the most-requested layout change in residential projects, and rightly so. Connecting kitchen, dining, and living spaces allows light to travel further, makes smaller homes feel larger, and creates the connected family environment that most households actually want. But open plan done badly is one of the more common design regrets we encounter from homeowners who've had alterations done without architectural input.

The answer is to zone intelligently within the open space. Level changes, different floor materials, a kitchen island, or a low partition all create a sense of separation without walls. Full-width sliding or bi-fold doors allow the space to open to the garden in summer and feel more contained in winter. And it's worth an honest conversation about whether fully open plan suits your household. Families with young children or home workers often find that a partial opening, with a snug or glazed partition off the main space, works better in practice.

One thing that holds across every open plan project: the kitchen's position becomes critical in a way it wasn't when it was a separate room. Its relationship to natural light, to the dining area, and to the garden view defines how the whole space works.