House extension

• Extending your home allows you to personalize your living space even further. Adding an extra room, an office, or a kitchen can precisely meet your family's needs. And remember, these needs evolve rapidly throughout a family's life!
• A home extension also offers significantly improved comfort: additional living space (you can finally breathe!), more modern materials than those used in your main residence, superior thermal performance, and more.
• Furthermore, choosing an extension rather than buying an older house or building from scratch allows you to maintain your ties with your current family and social environment. Your children can stay in the same schools and keep their friendships, while you can preserve your routines and familiar surroundings in the neighborhood. This continuity of life is an essential element of well-being, often underestimated when considering moving. Something to think about!

Obviously, from a financial perspective, a home extension is also a worthwhile investment! Despite a potentially high initial cost, it's generally more economical than buying a new property with a similar living area. Furthermore, adding square footage to a home increases its value. In a tight real estate market, where buyers aren't always in a strong negotiating position, this is a significant advantage! As you can see, it's better to focus on increasing the value of your current home—a wise investment strategy that offers a substantial return on investment when you sell.

To gain square footage, a horizontal extension is the preferred solution for transforming your daily life. At AKENA, we design custom extensions that integrate seamlessly with your ground floor. This approach allows you to create new spaces without altering the existing architecture. Each project is carried out using materials selected for their durability, thus offering you a more spacious, harmonious, and functional home.

Aluminum proves to be a modern and versatile material, ideal for contemporary construction. Its lightness, robustness, and ease of handling make it an excellent choice for framed structures. Aluminum is weather-resistant and requires little maintenance, while offering a wide variety of finishes to suit all architectural styles. What a great advantage! This is without even considering its insulation efficiency, which can also be optimized by using a powder-coated finish with complete thermal break, as seen on our LOFT and LOFT A+ models.

Composite wood is used for its warm aesthetic and natural appearance, making it a popular choice for home extensions. That's why it's one of the materials used in the finishes of our AKENA home extensions.

Aluminum, for example, is an excellent choice for those looking for a modern and durable material. It offers a wide variety of finishes and requires little maintenance. Composite wood, on the other hand, brings a warm and natural touch to your extension. It's also durable and weather-resistant. At AKENA, we help you choose the material that best suits your needs and lifestyle.

Several AKENA house extension models feature a quadruple roofing system, composed of two insulating panels, air gaps, and fiberglass insulation, providing a thermal resistance of up to 8. Our angled roofs (approximately 3% slope) are covered with an EPDM rubber membrane, ideal for ensuring optimal waterproofing at the gutter. This high-quality finish allows us to guarantee our clients the best possible living comfort!

As you can see, a house extension attached to your existing home allows you to perfectly meet your evolving needs without the constraints of moving. Whether it's to accommodate a new family member, create a home office, or anticipate future needs, the possibilities offered by an extension are numerous!

The advantages of a single-story extension with AKENA

• Custom architectural integration: Thanks to the flexibility of aluminum, we design structures that harmonize with the aesthetics of your home, whether modern or traditional.
• New living spaces: Open-plan kitchen, light-filled living room, or home office... the possibilities are endless for redefining your living spaces.
• Controlled construction: Unlike work at height, a horizontal extension limits major interventions on the existing roof and preserves the integrity of your load-bearing structure.
• Performance and durability: By using robust materials and carefully selected glazing, AKENA guarantees a new living space designed to last and integrate perfectly into your surroundings.

Here are the essential steps to guarantee its success:

1. Define your needs: Clearly identify the objective of your extension, whether it's adding a bedroom, an office, or a kitchen.
2. Feasibility study: Consult professionals to assess the technical and financial feasibility of your project.
3. Custom design: Work with an architect to design an extension that blends seamlessly with your existing home.
4. Administrative procedures: Obtain the necessary permits, such as a building permit or prior declaration of works.
5. Choice of materials: Select high-quality materials to guarantee durability and thermal performance.
6. Site preparation: Plan the work in detail, coordinating the various stakeholders.
7. Construction: Closely monitor the site to ensure compliance and quality of the work.
8. Acceptance of the work: Conduct a thorough inspection before approving the completion of the work.

With AKENA, each step is accompanied by personalized advice and solutions to make your extension project a complete success.

First, it's crucial to define your specific needs, whether you're adding a living room, an office, or a kitchen. Next, a technical and financial feasibility study must be carried out by professionals. The custom design of your extension must harmonize with your home's existing architecture while respecting building codes. Finally, choosing high-quality materials is essential to guarantee durability and thermal performance. With AKENA, each project is unique and benefits from attentive support at every stage.

1. Lacking precision in your project
Don't rush into it. Clearly define the use of your new room (living room, kitchen, office, etc.). The more precise your needs, the better we can anticipate the technical and budgetary aspects.

2. Neglecting planning regulations
This is a crucial step. Before laying the first stone, check the Local Urban Development Plan (PLU) for your municipality. Size, distance, materials: everything is regulated. An oversight can lead to penalties or the work stoppage.

3. Underestimating the importance of light
The challenge is to find the right balance: capturing light to make the room pleasant, while also planning solutions (blinds, specific glazing) to manage solar gain in the summer.

4. Choosing materials solely based on price
The cheapest option to buy can be expensive to run. The choice of framing and glazing directly influences the durability of your extension and your acoustic comfort. Invest in quality for a lasting investment.

5. Forgetting the impact on the garden
Gaining square footage inside means losing space outside. Anticipate the reorganization of your property: Will a driveway need to be moved? Will the patio need to be redesigned? The extension must blend harmoniously into your garden.

6. Neglecting coherence and layout
A successful extension should not look like an artificial "addition." From the outset, think about the flow between the old and new spaces, as well as the interior finishes, to create a seamless and aesthetically pleasing whole.

You could consider transforming this extra space into a playroom for your children, a peaceful home office, or a bright living room. The choice of how to use this new space will depend on your current and future needs, your lifestyle, and the layout of your existing home. Remember that the design phase of your project is crucial: it ensures control over the total cost. The size of your extension, in particular, will be a determining factor! It depends on how you intend to use it. Below are some recommendations for average sizes based on the specific characteristics of your extension!

• LOFT: The LOFT habitable extension is an innovative solution for expanding your home. Compliant with building standards, this extension allows you to reorganize spaces to create key rooms such as a kitchen or living room. Its insulated roof offers thermal performance equivalent to traditional construction, and its flat ceiling ensures seamless integration with your existing home.
• LOFT A+: Innovative with its contemporary design and flat roof, this model is designed to harmonize with modern architecture, particularly homes with roof terraces. It minimizes the need for masonry work thanks to its reduced wall footprint. The AKENA LOFT A+ stands out with its various insulation options offering thermal flexibility, as well as the possibility of integrating a skylight with variable-tint glazing technology. With stylish interior finishes, such as I-beam profiles, it brings a touch of elegance and modernity to any extension.

With AKENA, you can create a living space that blends seamlessly with the natural environment thanks to bespoke solutions. Consider incorporating elements such as bay windows to maximize natural light, composite wood finishes for a warm ambiance, and insulated roofs for optimal comfort in every season. Unleash your imagination and transform your outdoor space into a true haven of peace.

Among L-shaped extensions, the LOFT A+ model stands out with its contemporary design featuring clean lines and a flat roof, giving it a modern and refined style. It is designed to offer optimal thermal and acoustic comfort, thanks to enhanced insulation and high-quality materials.

The LOFT A+ extension is fully customizable to suit your needs and lifestyle. Among the available options:

• Interior ceiling with a neat finish, which can integrate LED spotlights for a warm atmosphere.
• Skylights for maximum natural light.
• Panoramic openings, such as sliding glass doors, to maximize the feeling of space and connection with the outside.

With this solution, you benefit from a stylish and efficient extension, ideal for enlarging your home while adding a contemporary touch.