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Writer's pictureLisa Carolan

A RETAIL UNIT CONVERTED TO A HOME

A forgotten retail unit located in a town centre which was ripe for conversion to a home. The only thing standing in the way of its transformation was some creativity, a little bit of luck (as with all building projects!) and of course some savings.






The property was a commercial retail unit which was mostly open plan in it's layout. Planning permission was required to change this property from commercial use to residential use. Under this kind of conversion the building will need to meet all current building regulations. This is the single biggest challenge you will face in applying for changing the use of a building. Luckily with my experience with planning permission over many years I was able to navigate this process.

“Your commercial property can only successfully convert to residential status under planning law if it can meet the current building regulations standards.”

After securing this property at auction I really wasn't sure what I could achieve with it. Mostly because it was on a small laneway and had very little garden to it. However I could see the potential for it to be a home as it was in a cute little neighbourhood and convienently located next to shops and the main street. A perfect location for somebody looking for their first little home and thankfully the planning department agreed with my goals and granted permission for its conversion from commercial use to residential use. Now all I had to do was make it a reality! More easily said than done in the case of a renovation project, as most of you know.


A retail unit make-over


'Before photos' below show an interior and exterior photo of the retail unit before any work was done to it.


Exterior of the retail unit 'Before'

Interior of the retail unit 'Before'

Exterior of the retail unit 'After'

“Just a girl... living her dream and not knowing if it would work out to be what she had hoped for.”

So planning hurdles aside the next biggest challenge was to get warm southern light into the property. The design called for a vaulted ceiling and plenty of rooflights to overcome its unlucky northern aspect. The building was facing north and with so many other buildings so snugly located either side...it really didn't have much chance to avail of sunshine. A vaulted ceiling is where the ceiling runs along the profile of the roof giving the feeling of space to any room and allowing the possibility of skylights to introduce light from above. Light from above is always much more powerful than light entering through regular windows at eye level.




The new layout allowed for 3 bedrooms (one en-suite), a new family bathroom, an open-plan kitchen/living/dining space and a utility room.

This conversion was a huge success and as the photos show the end result is a cosy home.



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