Doing a modern addition to a traditional or older home? Check out these inspiring projects for design inspiration and how to make them work.
With any house addition or renovation, proportion, scale, and material selection are key. To create a cohesive addition, you have to figure out two important things:
- Flow: How will the space(s) in the addition flow with the rest of the house?
- Style: Should the style of the addition blend in with or stand out from the existing?
When creating modern additions to traditional houses, you have to find a way for the two styles (modern and traditional) to work together. Should you mimic the roof lines, window types, or exterior cladding material or should you create a completely different vocabulary?
In our experience, we often wrestle with this question: How do you create a modern house addition that stands out in a distinct yet elegant way while still complementing the existing house?
With the Fombell Addition in Western PA, we maintained the traditional vernacular on the street facing side, then opened up the opposite side to the meadow beyond with large modern window walls. As part of the early design process for our Howard Addition & Renovation, we’ve been finding design inspiration in some other interesting modern house additions so we thought we’d share some of our favorites.
Whether you’re considering an addition on the front, side, rear, or top of your current home, these house additions provide great examples of how to add on to your older house in a modern way.
Modern Curb Appeal With a Front Addition
Barwon House 2: Auhaus Architecture + Interiors
In this project, the architect completely revamped the front elevation. The original 1930‘s Australian house was a mash of styles – part cottage, part terrace, part modernist villa. The front of the house lacked definition, a sense of entry, and curb appeal. For the addition and redesign or the existing house, the architect chose to change materials by incorporating a concrete front facade that both simplifies and exaggerates the geometry of the original house, grounds the building on the property, and creates a strong connection to the landscape.
Modern Addition to the Side
[Fayerweather Street Residence by Stern McCafferty Architecture + Interiors. Photo by Chuck Choi.]
Fayerweather Street Residence by Stern McCafferty Architecture + Interiors
We love this modern addition in Cambridge, MA which attaches a 2-story modern steel box to an existing Georgian revival structure. It’s a nice contemporary contrast to the stately abode. By using large Cor-Ten steel cladding that’s detailed in a clean modern way, the architect found a way to harmonizes the addition with the masonry and slate roof of the main house. It was also a nice idea to the use of vegetation to soften the steel cladding around the large window openings.
Modern Extruded Extension Off the Back
[Maylands Addition by Jonathan Lake Architects. Photo courtesy Jonathan Lake Architects.]
Maylands Addition by Jonathan Lake Architects
In this Australian addition, the architects chose to deviate from the traditional gable roofed structure by placing a modern extruded box off the back of the house. The boxy volume extends out below the existing gable roof so as not to compete with the existing roofline. Large window walls were added to the existing house to modernize it and integrate with the openings of the new addition.
The Bump Out Modern Addition
[Schmitz Residence by DRAW Architecture and Lisa Schmitz Interior Design. Photos courtesy Lisa Schmitz Interior Design.]
Schmitz Residence by DRAW Architecture and Lisa Schmitz Interior Design
This Missouri project is a modest modern addition that expands the back corner of the house at the ground level allowing for an eat-in banquette area in the kitchen and large windows that open up to the patio and garden. The addition is kept to one-story which proportionally helps maintain a balance between the old and new and prevents the addition from competing with the existing. Window openings relate to existing window sizes and the dark wood paneling of the addition complements the existing while adding a slightly modern spin to the cladding detail.
The Third Story Addition
[Fivesquare Residence by Lever Architecture. Photos by Lever Architecture.]
Fivesquare Residence by Lever Architecture
When you don’t have the yard space to build outwards with an addition or zoning regulations restrict it, why not build upwards? This modern rooftop addition adds a modern glass box studio space to the third floor. The design explores the tension between keeping the traditional style of the house at the street and a contemporary approach at the roof. Sugi ban cladding further blends the new with the old asphalt shingle roof. And large windows are a nice touch, offering wide city views of Portland, OR.
The Separated Modern Addition
[Elverson Farmhouse by Neely Architecture. Photo courtesy Neely Architecture.]
Elverson Farmhouse by Neely Architecture
For this project, the architects separated the modern addition with physical distance from the traditional stone farmhouse, respecting and preserving the character of the original house while also allowing for a modern design that doesn’t compete. A glass connector creates the linkage between old and new structures while the wood cladding color and gable roof complement the existing masonry structure.
Large Modern Farmhouse Extension
[Farmhouse Burkeldijk by Govaert & Vanhoutte. Photos by Tim Van de Velde.]
Farmhouse Burkeldijk by Govaert & Vanhoutte
With large additions, it becomes tricky to balance old and new in a way that allows both to coexist without dominating competing with the other. In this project, the goal was to transform the building into a modern living space and a bed and breakfast hotel but do it in a way that maintains the heritage of the site yet still finds a balance between the old and the new. For the design of the addition, the architects followed the same linear vernacular form of the existing architecture but deviated from it in its material cladding and opening sizes choosing to modernize the exterior with clean lines and simple detailing.
Additional Resource
Smart Home Extensions book
An interesting picture book on numerous modern house addition projects. It offers lots of juicy images, drawings, and supporting imagery. This project is one of my favorites.
Disclaimer: Please note that the Amazon link above is an affiliate link.
We hope you find this round-up of modern house additions helpful in your quest to expand your existing older home. Adding on to a traditional or older home can be challenging, but it can also be an exciting and worthwhile opportunity when you want that much needed extra space that renovating can’t create.
If you’ve got a modern house addition project and you’d like some help, get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you.
To learn more about important considerations when building a home addition, check out this post over at the OPEN DOOR.
Love how the modern structure is integrated with the existing structure , We designed and well constructed .