How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Good call!

I’m always a lil concerned about big empty spaces labelled dining / living. You can’t figure out if it will be good without drawing all the furniture - and ideally using correct dims for the pieces you have or will buy for it.

Discussing windows is a bit useless without orientation.
And I agree, left window looks like its a left over from a different configuration inside.

I’d have a bigger window but would also say (and just my opinion) a big rectangle space at the end of an extension can feel awkward. Could you stagger it to help with zoning. I’d be tempted to push the window side in or out a bit.

We've got a similar layout in our extension that's currently being built, except the bit behind the utility room is a nice square. We're putting a square, non-opening window in that bit and doors beside it, much like you. The bit with the window is a reading nook, so you can sit there and have a view of the garden. That's the bit I'm most looking forward to.

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That looks nice!

We put the internal wall in and have a small office in that bit, means we've got three proper bedrooms upstairs again & it's pretty enjoyable looking out over the garden when taking a break from the screens.

We started with three bedrooms but have cut that down to two by putting the bathroom upstairs - what will be the utility room was the bathroom. The reading nook will be bare brick now, and we might not do the built-in shelves. Not sure yet. Going to wait to see the space and decide then.

That looks absolutely lovely, and a genuine nook to read in rather than a dark corridor room in the middle of a house that gets called a nook.

I'm hoping it provides me as much relaxation as the process of getting it built has caused me stress.

This looks lovely but I never understand how they are used. Where do you arse/legs/back/ go, in any form that is comfy for reading? Give me an armchair over a window seat anyday

That may well be what we end up with. Although the benches would be long enough to lay down on.

Like this.

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Really like the skylight above the seating area. That is a cool touch.

We're currently having a big back-and-forth about the colour of bricks outside, because neighbour wants his side to be buff, and ours will all be grey. Unfortunately that will show up as a zig-zag on the little bit of parapet wall. So we're either going to deliberately lose 5cm of garden or have a join somewhere. We're bearing the large majority of the cost of the party wall too, which makes it all a bit annoying.

I vote set the wall back, you can do whatever you like then.

Set it back, as in concede the 5cm to neighbour? Here are the quick sketches the architect WhatsApp'd over this afternoon.

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why not just do option 2 then continue the cladding across to meet the wall?

There's a parapet wall and the cladding on the roof sorta needs to line up with the cladding on the front.

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Will you really see the cladding on the roof and the side at the same time?

Don't you have a strip of buff bricks on the other side? So two strips might just match

And lastly for some more uninformed opinion I'm sure you don't need - whats the logic behind the grey wall with the buff bricks inside? Surely buff throughout is aesthetically better.

Left field idea - Instead of trying to hide the two colours, can they lay the bricks on your side alternating buff and grey and make a feature of the blend? Could look quite cool in a chequerboardy kind of way.

I'm not sure I follow. It's hard to describe this stuff in text - that's why the WhatsApp group with my builder and architect is always such a head-scratcher. We want grey bricks to match the grey wood, but next door wants buff for party wall - but is happy with grey for the garden wall bit. It's all baffling. I think the zig-zag thing would be noisy, and the whole point of the extension's look is to be really smooth and not show how it's constructed.

How's the standard of their work? Improved since the brick incident?

Is option 1 just losing 5cm from the garden? If so I'd probably say fuck it and go with that. Maybe send something to your neighbour stating that the boundary is 5cm beyond the wall, as per the property plans, or something in an attempt to cover yourself.

That :)

And lastly for some more uninformed opinion I'm sure you don't need - whats the logic behind the grey wall with the buff bricks inside? Surely buff throughout is aesthetically better.

^ +1

Not what you want to hear, but if the rest of the house is buff then I can see why your neighbour doesn't want a random parapet of modern grey bricks.

Another option is to put a peice of wood over it and grow a climber up it.