This house in the Oxfordshire countryside was designed by London studio The Manser Practice with a Cotswold stone facade and a cantilevered terrace overlooking the woods (+ slideshow).
The Manser Practice created the building for a professional couple, as a place to live and work. Nestled into the woodland, it features a sheltered open-air swimming pool and a Cotswold stone exterior designed to fit in with the surrounding landscape.
“We looked at a wide range of stones and materials to use, but the Cotswold stone offered the best variation between the base tones and some blue hues which reflects the colour of the surrounding trees,” architect Mark Smyth told Dezeen.
Employing a local building technique, the firm worked with nearby quarries to source stones from the surrounding regions to clad the exterior of the house.
“We used a dry stone-walling technique where we back mortared the stone, so from the front it looks like it’s stacked. The stone was actually sorted into different sizes and is angled from the top to the bottom, which creates a camber,” Smyth explained.
A south-facing cantilevered terrace hangs from the steel roof, overlooking the woodland and providing views of an old birch tree on the property.
Photo by Agnese Sanvito
At the centre of the building, a glazed hall and steel staircase divide the two main wings and allow visitors to see straight through to the trees beyond.
Bedrooms are stacked on the north side of the house and face out to the east. The master bedroom opens straight onto the terrace and has an en suite and dressing room, while two guest bedrooms sit below.
“We wanted something to fit with the landscape and built the house up high enough to enjoy the spectacular views of the morning sun over the trees from the master bedroom,” Smyth said.
In the adjacent block, slender columns support an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area on the first floor, while a workshop below provides space for one of the clients – a medical scientist – to work from home.
The swimming pool is also located on this level and can be exposed to the elements by sliding back a glazed canopy.
Photo by Agnese Sanvito
Photography is by Hufton + Crow unless otherwise stated.
Here’s some more text from architect Mark Smyth:
House in Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire, England
This private house is set in deciduous woodland near Henley-on-Thames, Oxford and is a 500sqm home for a professional couple. The house is divided into a living wing and a bedroom wing – with a fully glazed stair hall forming the fulcrum of the composition.
The first floor living space and master suite benefit from spectacular views of the surrounding woodland. A cantilevered terrace runs along the length of the south facing façade, extending the living space into the landscape with dramatic effect. The exterior of the building is clad in Cotswold stone affording the house a great sense of solidity. The stone exterior creates an interesting juxtaposition with the buildings modern detailing and slender steel roof.
The house has a complex M+E system. House heating, hot water and pool heating are supplied by air source heat pumps located in the existing stable block. Major plant is also housed here and pumped via super insulated pipework in ducts under the driveway to the main house. A heat exchange system allows energy to be recovered from the living spaces and the pool.
London architect Ben Nightingale has renovated a Victorian property he owns in Hackney, transforming three separate flats into a large family home featuring a double-height library and an attic playroom.
Ben Nightingale, one of the co-founders of Kilburn Nightingale Architects, bought the four-storey house on Greenwood Road to provide a family home for his wife and their three young daughters.
The building had previously been converted into three separate flats, meaning Nightingale had to completely re-plan the layout. This included removing existing walls, creating openings in the floor and rebuilding the original staircase.
“This project shows how a typical Victorian home can be opened up for more flexible use by a family, and also be adapted to positively reduce the carbon footprint,” Nightingale told Dezeen.
“The layout breaks down the traditional horizontal layering of this type of house, and the addition of a number of different types of insulation, photovoltaics and solar thermal panels greatly improve the energy efficiency,” he added.
Like many of London’s townhouses, the building has two storeys accessible from ground level – one that is slightly raised above the street and one that sits in line with a sunken garden. The architect transformed both of these floors into communal family spaces.
The lower ground floor accommodates a large kitchen and dining room that leads straight out to the garden beyond.
The double-height library area is positioned at the back, creating a visual connection with two living rooms on the floor above.
The first of these is a relaxed space facing out over the lawn, while the other is a formal area where the family can entertain guests.
The architect worked with a local joiner to add new sweet-chestnut window frames and cladding to an old extension at the rear of the house, intended to “mask the original poor quality brickwork”.
Five bedrooms and two bathrooms occupy the two upper levels. The attic was also remodelled, creating a playroom for the children that doubles as a guest bedroom.
Here’s the project description from Kilburn Nightingale Architects:
71 Greenwood Rd, London E8 Repair/remodelling and refurbishment of an existing house
This project involves the conversion, repair and extensive remodelling of a semi-detached mid Victorian house in Dalston, Hackney.
The house was purchased by Ben and Jane Kilburn at auction as a freehold building containing three flats. Ben Kilburn is a director with Richard Nightingale at Kilburn Nightingale Architects, an architecture practice based near King’s Cross.
This project presented an opportunity for Kilburn Nightingale (with Ben in the role of architect/owner) to develop a design that would take into account the joint requirements of contemporary family living (with three daughters aged 10, 8 and 5) and the rehabilitation and improvement of a house that had been neglected and interfered with by previous owners.
The renovation was designed to provide a functional home taking into account a need for flexible living space that would allow for a number of different activities to take place concurrently (so that the family could be ‘together’). The arrangement also needed to allow more privacy when required. The design also avoids having the lower kitchen/living area separated from the rest of the house by a formal, underused living area at upper ground level.
To achieve this, upper and lower living areas are connected to each other through a new double-height space at the rear of the property, and also connected to the garden through double-height glazing. This sense of openness is enhanced throughout the house by a number of new windows in the flank wall bringing light into the middle of the house.
The lower ground floor of the house has been remodelled to provide kitchen, dining and living area, with the double-height space at the rear of the house opening up to a flowing living space above. This upper living space is loosely divided into a more relaxed area closest to the balcony and views to the garden, and a slightly more formal living room at the front of the house.
First and second floors are divided into bedrooms and new bathrooms, and the attic has been converted to provide a flexible study/sleep-over/play space. Access to the attic is via a ‘hit and miss’ stair that is designed to take up as little space as possible.
The connection of the lower two floors of the house with the garden is made partly through the large windows/doors at the rear of the house, but also through the construction of a new shed/studio at the back of the garden. The large glazed double doors of the shed face back to the big doors in the glazed screen at the back of the house, with the suggestion that the shed is akin to a piece of the house that has floated out into the garden.
Chris Dyson Architects has added a soot-washed brick extension with a curved wall to a Georgian terraced house and former nunnery in east London (+ slideshow).
London-based Chris Dyson Architects was asked to replace an old two-storey extension, creating a new family living space that would be more in-keeping with the traditional nineteenth-century style of the property located at Wapping Pierhead.
“The curved end of the extension was inspired by the banks of the Thames elevation that rises on either side of the property and has curved bay windows overlooking the river,” Chris Dyson told Dezeen.
“It was an interesting local vernacular that we wanted to include and the curved extension bookends the environment well,” he said.
The architects worked with London bricklaying company Beckwith Tuckpointing to ensure the brickwork remained authentic. Locally sourced Coleridge yellow bricks were stained using an eighteenth-century soot-wash technique and an old penny was rolled between the brick joints, leaving an indent in the mortar.
“The use of brick helped to achieve a balance between the contemporary and the original period style of the house,” said Dyson.
Slate copings protect the gauged brick arches and bronze casements that have been added to the windows, helping to distinguish between the old and new.
An original listed dock wall offers privacy for a sheltered garden, while the curved wall at the back of the extension completes the terrace.
The garden offers another route into the basement and ground floor level of the extension, where a minimal dining room, library and kitchen offer living space for the family.
Built by British architect Daniel Asher Alexander in 1810, the Grade II listed building formerly housed a dock authority officer, before being repurposed as a nunnery in the 1940s.
Many of the period features have been restored, including the original staircase, architraves, floorboards and fireplace surrounds.
“The original property was very run down and hadn’t had much spent on it. This meant much of the house was preserved and we were able to bring back many of the period features,” Dyson explained.
Upstairs, the master bedroom and bathroom continue with the Georgian style, with pastel green panels concealing extra storage space and a large antique-style bathtub.
A rainwater-harvesting system and improved insulation have also been added to make the property more environmentally friendly.
Chris Dyson Architects recently won the AJ Small Projects Award for its extension of Wapping Pierhead. The award celebrates architectural projects built with a budget of less than £250,000.
London studio dRMM has completed a house and studio for Hackney artist Richard Woods, using his trademark cartoon-style print to add colour to the building’s facade and staircase (+ slideshow).
Richard Woods is best known for the painted woodgrain graphics he applies to furniture and textiles, so dRMM used the pattern to inject the character of the artist into the architectural design.
Panels in shades of white, yellow and green run horizontally along patches of the front and rear facades. They reappear inside the house as treads for the main staircase, which features a rainbow of colours ranging from pale pink and white to bold reds, blues and greens.
Entitled WoodBlock House, the project is described by the designers as “a chance for experimentation that resulted in domestic joy and Spartan pleasure in every aspect of the finished product”.
Functions inside the three-storey building are divided up by storey. A large-scale printing workshop occupies the entire ground floor, while the level above accommodates living spaces and the second storey contains four bedrooms for Woods’ family.
Externally, only the bedroom storey is clad with the colourful plywood. The rest of the exterior is clad with unpainted larch boards that are arranged vertically to contrast.
Timber also lines the walls, floors and ceilings of the two domestic floors. “WoodBlock House also has the unique atmosphere of a house built only in timber and glass, with a sensual quality that has to be seen, touched and smelt to be fully understood,” said dRMM in a statement.
The studio opens out to a yard at the back, ensuring easy access and constant ventilation, while the dining room leads to a balcony terrace where residents can dine al fresco.
The staircase also ascends to another terrace on the roof, which is accessed via a small library.
dRMM used a cross-laminated timber structural system to build the house. Only two types of windows were used, which include full-height sliding windows for the living rooms and smaller “punched hole” windows for bedrooms and corridors.
The interior is completed by a wood-burning stove, leather seating and a few select pieces of furniture by the artist.
This isn’t the first time dRMM has collaborated with Richard Woods. The pair previously worked together to create a gallery space for Modern Art Oxford.
Photography is by Alex de Rijke.
Here’s a project description from dRMM:
WoodBlock House, Hackney, London
WoodBlock House demonstrates a genuine collaboration between architect and client, a chance for experimentation that resulted in domestic joy and Spartan pleasure in every aspect of the finished product.
The brief was to create a studio, home and office for UK artist Richards Woods and his family. Woods’ working process requires a large-scale printing workshop where work can be manufactured with adequate space for him and his studio employees. The building had to be designed with the inclusion of an open yard at ground level, to ensure ventilation and ease of access – both essential to Woods’ work process. From the start designs evolved from extensive conversations with the client, whose own work traverses the boundaries between art, architecture and furniture design in the interplay between the functional and the ornamental.
The result was a simple, large workshop and printing studio space on the ground floor, with separate living accommodation above, all characterised by the qualities of timber, good spaces and daylight. The design principles of the scheme can be grouped as follows:
Articulated Massing
The massing and CLT panel structural system is expressed through the articulation of the facade in relief and choice of cladding. The building consists of three elements, the ground and first floor housing workshop and main living area, the second floor box of bedrooms with small rooftop library on the third floor. The building is positioned slightly away from its neighbours flank wall to include the careful brickwork in its composition.
The home section of the building is south-facing and sits on top of the north-facing studio. The former is horizontally clad painted plywood using a printing technique for which the artist-client is internationally renown; by contrast the studio is clad in unpainted larch.
Fenestration Principles
A simple, generous fenestration specification has been used throughout. Generally there are two types of window – full height, sliding windows to principal living areas, and smaller ‘punched hole’ windows to secondary living spaces such as bedrooms and circulation. All are laminated timber.
The building is a response to the family’s needs, as well as dRMM’s own commitment to sustainability in architecture through the use of engineered timber. Panelised construction was far quicker than an equivalent brick or concrete construction, and since noise, pollution and site traffic are lessened, relations with the neighbours were good throughout.
Apart from being environmentally sound, WoodBlock House also has the unique atmosphere of a house built only in timber and glass, with a sensual quality that has to be seen, touched and smelt to be fully understood. But perhaps its greatest success lies in something even more intangible: the feeling of a building that is in constant use, brought to life through the noisy combination of family, work and play.
Architecture studio AOC has renovated a four-storey townhouse in north London, adding wall-hung vintage bicycles and timber mouldings based on the faces of the resident family.
Named Bonhôte House, the nineteenth-century property was remodelled by London-based AOC to create a contemporary family home for a boutique owner, a film producer and their young children.
The house now features an open-plan interior designed to meet the family’s need for space, with a two-storey-high gallery added for displaying vintage bicycles and artwork.
A large portion of the original ground floor was removed, enabling the architects to create the double-height gallery at the front of the house.
The new entrance hall allows natural light to fill the room through an original Victorian window with folding shutters. Two bicycles hang on hooks from an adjacent wall, ensuring that they can be seen from various angles.
Shelving built into the walls provides a space for displaying the family’s large collection of books and objects.
“The family had a fascinating collection of artefacts they wished to display, from Dan Holdsworth prints to Paris flea market nicknacks,” architect Geoff Shearcroft told Dezeen.
To add character, the architects used the facial profiles of each family member to produce a series of bespoke timber mouldings, which are dotted throughout the interior.
These create a ripple effect when joined together and act as a contemporary counterpoint to the original Victorian skirting boards and architraves.
“Much ornament in architecture has the human form as its basis and we continued this tradition with a very literal translation of facial profile into moulding,” said Shearcroft.
Facial profiles of the family members as timber mouldings
Across the lower ground floor, a tiled floor with a basket-weave pattern connects the living space with the kitchen and provides a hard-wearing surface for the growing family.
“We explored a variety of patterns but the basket weave offered the right combination of rich associations, closed openness and playful variation,” said the architect.
In the kitchen, mirrored laminate surfaces create an extension of the pattern and reflect light back into the room.
A slumped concrete sofa sits at the foot of a brass decorative staircase, which leads up to bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor.
Continuing up through the property, the original floor plan has been altered to connect the master bedroom to an en suite that overlooks the park.
“We re-configured the plan to create a series of different character spaces that were visually and vertically connected,” added Shearcroft.
Here’s a description of Bonhôte House from the architects:
Bonhôte House, Stoke Newington, London
The Bonhôte House is a four storey townhouse in Stoke Newington, home to a film producer, a boutique owner and their young children. The couple needed more room for a growing family, and for their contemporary art and vintage bicycle collections, than their previous Shoreditch, East London mews house offered. They asked AOC to design a home that felt big yet intimate, luxurious yet useful, sophisticated yet playful, beautiful yet cosy.
The original 19th century property was narrow, dark and unwelcoming, and had been stripped bare by its previous owners. A key architectural move has been to remove a large area of floor, merging basement and ground levels at the front of the house to create a generous double height gallery, into which a new decorative stair descends from the entrance hall. This act of opening-up brings natural light into the basement living space, and creates expansive walls for display of large artworks and objects and for storage of valuable books.
On the upper levels, non-structural walls have been relocated to shape a range of spaces appropriate to the family’s lives. Throughout the property, new doors and internal windows connect individual rooms while maintaining distinctions between them, offering glimpses through the house itself, and then out into the city beyond.
The family wanted a characterful home, contemporary in tone without feeling ‘new’. In response, AOC enriched bare walls with bespoke timber profiles created from the facial profiles of family members – a reinterpretation of traditional mouldings. Used as skirtings, architraves and linings, these ornamental features ensure each room is uniquely tailored to its inhabitants. In the lower, more public, levels, all four mouldings are combined to create a rippling timber lining that softens and connects.
A unique domestic character has been created through deploying a range of materials, chosen for their associative qualities, to create diverse surface effects. A slumped concrete sofa, tinted green, anchors the new staircase at the centre of the plan, before evolving into a kitchen work surface. The use of mirrored laminate on storage units helps them dissolve into their surroundings, while providing endless games of reflection for the children. A basket weave floor pattern, used in a variety of scales and materials, reinforces the individual characters of different parts of the house whilst creating a coherent whole.
The architects worked closely with the family to ensure the house could support the visual choreography of special objects, while still being a practical space, able to manage their storage needs in a discreet, integrated way. The subsequent combination of bespoke panelling with open shelves, interspersed with glazed, mirror and even secret doors, bestows an ‘instant maturity’ upon the home, as though the family have been there for generations.
A dramatic oak staircase with a sweeping handrail connects the five storeys of this Victorian convent building in south London, which has been converted into four homes by John Smart Architects (+ slideshow).
The Old St John’s Convent and Orchard was renovated by London firm John Smart Architects to create four five-storey properties that retain the original order of the facades while adding modern interventions and overhauling the interiors.
“The distinctive Victorian skin was largely renovated and reinstated to retain as much of the character of the original convent as possible,” the architects told Dezeen.
“New interventions remained largely hidden where possible on the front facing facade, whereas the back facade required opening up to benefit from the south facing aspect and to improve visual connections with the large gardens,” they added.
Extensions to two of the properties incorporate large windows and Juliet balconies looking out onto the garden, and are clad in pale limestone that contrasts with the existing facade.
“Moleanos limestone was chosen as a pure, unapologetically modern solid element which contrasted against the original London brick,” said the architects.
Inside one of the extensions, a double-height void rises from the lower ground floor kitchen and dining area to a reading room above that features a glass balustrade to retain views of the garden.
The kitchen floor is made from polished screed, while oak was used for built-in cabinetry and an adjoining partition that screens the utility area.
A fluid oak staircase at the centre of the house was constructed from staves with standardised sections and assembled on-site. The wood was exposed to ammonia fumes to darken its colour.
Just two types of wedge-shaped staves were used to build the inner and outer curves that form the handrail and the stringer supporting the treads.
“The stairwell concept was to design a heavy vertical sculptured element, providing a solid core to the overall programmatic framing of the house,” the architects explained. “The building’s history meant it felt appropriate for the staircase to have a strong robust presence, which suggested dark oak.”
On the original main floor of the convent, a large oak bookcase acts as a dividing wall between a living area and the staircase.
The bookcase is constructed from the same fumed oak as the staircase, creating visual consistency between these two vertical elements while contrasting with the pale herringbone wooden floor.
Bedrooms and bathrooms are contained on the second and third storeys, with the staircase continuing to a roof terrace fitted between two sections of the sloping roof.
Set within a tree lined neighbourhood in South London; a distinctive local landmark has been attentively refurbished and crafted into four elegant houses. The Old St John’s Convent and Orchard at 17 Grove Park has been given a fresh lease of life through combining the rich history of the original Victorian building with new contemporary spaces and interventions. Each house is set over 5 floors and spans over 4000 square feet.
The Great Room Floor
Conceived as an open single space, the Great Room Floor provides three distinct areas within the original ground floor of the convent, whilst still maintaining an open dialogue across the floor.
Library
The oak library unit forms a central ‘furniture wall’ in the Great Room. Concealed full height doors allow space to flow freely around it, creating a fluid space. The fumed oak joinery relates to the fumed oak stair, bringing the verticality of the central core into the spatial dynamic.
Staircase Design
The five-storey oak stair is constructed using staves of standard section sizes that were laminated into a bespoke form. Crafted in a workshop, the elements were assembled on-site into a seamless flight that rises through the core of the house. Detailing is reduced to a minimum – just two types of wedged-shaped staves were used to achieve the inner and outer curves of the stair, which serves as both stringer and handrail.
Kitchen and Dining
At the heart of each house is a cooking and dining space situated under a dramatic six-metre high double height void. Framed by a full height oak window and sliding door, it has vistas onto the gardens and terrace beyond. Inside merges with outside, giving a garden backdrop to cooking, eating and entertaining in one light-filled room. The double aspect space can be used to create two distinct atmospheres if desired, each with their own ambiance, for casual family dining and more structured formal dining. A monolithic polished screed floor unifies the space while storage and utility are concealed neatly behind bespoke cupboards and timber clad walls. The kitchen itself is crafted from fumed oak with framed black granite oak doors and an Italian white marble worktop.
British architect Richard Overs has converted a deserted bakery in Cambridge, England, into a modern home for his family (+ slideshow).
Overs, a director at NRAP Architects, renovated both the bakery and a small accompanying house to create the two-storey residence called The Nook, then tied the two buildings together by adding a black-painted timber structure in between.
The architect said the two separate structures lent themselves perfectly to the arrangement of a home: “The large space within the bakery provides flexible living space, whilst the smaller rooms within the baker’s house are ideally suited to bedrooms.”
Accessed via a private lane, the house’s facade is a wall made from a combination of light and dark bricks. An entrance leads through the wall into the new wooden structure, which contains a lobby and staircase.
The hallway leads through to the large room formerly used as bakery. With high ceilings and white-painted wooden trusses, the space creates a flexible living, dining and kitchen space.
A wall of glazing opens the kitchen out to a secluded courtyard located behind the facade, while a series of glass doors also lead out to a second courtyard at the rear.
Skylights bring additional daylight into the living space, while floors are covered with painted plywood boards. The kitchen worktops are salvaged from the architect’s previous kitchen.
“Our attitude to the fabric of the building was quite relaxed; elements of value were retained, others were removed,” explained Overs.
The hallway features a wall of exposed clay bricks, revealing the former facade of the small detached house, which contains a pair of bedrooms on each floor.
Here’s a project description from architect Richard Owers:
From Bakehouse to our House
Richard Owers, director of NRAP Architects, describes the process of converting a disused bakery in Cambridge into a home for his family.
The Nook …….. is where the hearth is!
“Converting The Nook was an important moment in my architectural career, the significance of which was increased by the death of my father the previous year. He had inspired me at a very early age to become an architect and throughout my career suggested it was important to live in ones own creation. Finally firing up the hearth at The Nook was therefore rather poignant.”
Rescue Operation
“An often overlooked challenge for architects interested in sustainability is how to adapt existing buildings in a creative and cost effective manner. This project demonstrates how a building with little apparent architectural value can be rescued through good design. It also illustrates that demanding physical and budgetary constraints require creative solutions, and that calculated risk-taking can overcome the difficulties of a cautious mortgage market.”
Dereliction
In October 2010 Richard Owers of NRAP Architects spotted a ramshackle bakery and detached house in south Cambridge. The bakery, more recently used as a launderette, was disused and boarded up. The baker’s house had been privately rented and was in very poor condition. The two buildings were stranded behind a parade of shops, within a sea of car parking, at the end of a tarmac drive. As a place to live it had little going for it – or that was the general perception.
The existing two-up-two-down house was entered off a forecourt, directly into a central room that doubled as entrance hall and dining room. A living room and kitchen were accessed off opposing corners of the dining room. The same pattern was repeated at first floor, with entry to the bathroom via a bedroom.
The Solution
A walled garden in front of the bakery provides privacy to the living spaces and definition to the forecourt. A black-stained, timber-clad structure was added to the house to link it to the bakery and provide a new entrance hall and staircase. The existing staircase was removed to provide storage space in bedrooms. A right of way, passing along the north edge of the bakery, presented a privacy and security problem that was overcome by blocking-up all but one of the existing openings on the north façade. In the remaining opening translucent glass replaces a timber door. Large windows in the south facade were introduced to re-orientate the living spaces to the back garden.
Expanding Space
In a tight urban context the balance between privacy, light, and views is hard won. An increased sense of space, achieved through large openings with strong connections to the outside, is often at odds with privacy requirements. The following images show how this was achieved.
Image showing the original bakery and detached house
Inside Outside
The walled garden has the feeling of a living room, carpeted in white pebbles with a planted edge and a Tibetan Cherry tree for shade. A large sliding-folding door allows the living spaces to extend into the garden, and the garden to extend into the living space.
Views through the building and of external spaces are carefully controlled. The walled garden is first glimpsed from the front doormat and again at the foot of the staircase. It is not until one enters the living space that uninterrupted views of both front and back gardens are possible. Natural light plays on the different materials and surfaces to create an ethereal atmosphere that changes throughout the day and with the seasons.
The space within the entrance hall expands vertically up to the first floor as you penetrate the building. A roof light above brings natural light into the heart of the space.
A compelling architectural diagram for contemporary living combines a compact arrangement of bedrooms with open-plan living spaces. The contrasting form and geometries of the two existing buildings lent itself perfectly to this arrangement. The large space within the bakery provides flexible living space, divided by free-standing storage and island units, whilst the smaller rooms within the baker’s house are ideally suited to bedrooms.
The staircase is an exciting place to stop. In recognition of this we created an extended landing at the top, overlooking the entrance hall. The landing is large enough for a writing desk and chair.
Rescuing a dilapidated building is an intrinsically sustainable thing to do. Our attitude to the fabric of the building was quite relaxed; elements of value were retained, others were removed. The lintel over the original front door for example was reused above the fire place as a focus to the living space.
Brickwork to the original external wall of the house is exposed in the hallway, in contrast with the smooth plaster used elsewhere. Painted plywood, usually used as a sub-floor, has been laid directly on rigid insulation over the original concrete floor. Low energy florescent lights are discretely hidden behind a timber pelmet, and kitchen worktops and units were salvaged from my previous kitchen.
As soon as our offer on the property was accepted I commenced the design to enable a planning application to be lodged immediately after ‘exchange’ of contracts. A period of six weeks between exchange and completion was agreed, to parallel the statutory planning period and allow just enough time to prepare construction information. Unfortunately the council took three weeks to merely validate the application, so construction was commenced, at some risk, prior to receiving planning permission. The pressure of paying two mortgages made it essential to compress the construction program. A contract was negotiated with a local builder prepared to wait until we had re-mortgaged to get the majority of his money. Construction was completed in three months and the property re-mortgaged immediately after.
Pale bricks are arranged in a herringbone pattern on the outer walls of this compact house in north-east London that local architect Zoe Chan designed and built for herself (+ slideshow).
The Atelier ChanChan principal wanted the house to relate to the Victorian terraces that characterise London’s housing stock but to also have its own character, so she chose a steel frame infilled with a non-load-bearing herringbone brickwork, instead of the typical English and Flemish brick bonds.
“The choice to use brick creates a visual reference to the masonry construction of this particular street,” Chan told Dezeen. “However this isn’t a terrace, it’s quite different in character, so I chose to create my own personal expression using brickwork as the basis.”
Named Herringbone House, the two-storey structure slots into a non-linear plot that previously accommodated a series of derelict buildings, all of which had to be demolished beforehand. “It was in such bad repair, so everything needed to come down,” said Chan.
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that light would be able to reach all parts of the 30-metre-long plot. As such, the house takes on an L-shaped plan that wraps around private courtyards at the front and back to allow light to permeate both floors.
Two skylights puncture the gabled roof to draw extra light in from above. One sits directly above the stairwell, where Chan has added a steel staircase with open risers to allow more light through.
For the interior, white-washed timber floors and surfaces are complemented by Scandinavian furniture, and a variety of soft grey and pinkish hues.
“I wanted to use materials that are very natural but also warm,” said Chan. “The idea was to maximise light, but I didn’t want it to be sterile, so I drew inspiration from Scandinavian architecture and its light natural palettes.”
An open-plan layout on the ground floor brings the living room and kitchen alongside one another, while a small study sits to one side and opens out to the front courtyard through a wall of glazing.
Three bedrooms are located beneath the sloping ceilings of the top floor and feature built-in storage units designed to add to the thickness of the walls.
Photography is by Mike Tsang.
Here’s a short description from Zoe Chan:
Herringbone House
The house aims to relate to its context by taking the syntax of the local vernacular: namely gable ended roofs and the brick material of the Victorian terraces. However, the open plan interiors with ceiling to floor windows, skylights and courtyards are supported by a modern steel structure.
The combination making for a modern vernacular house inspired by the old to create something new. The ornamental herringbone brickwork was used to create personal expression and to articulate the picture windows and volumes by using framing, pattern and variety in the laying of the bricks.
Practice name: Atelier ChanChan Team: Zoe Chan (lead designer), Bob Chan and Joao Neves Location: Islington, London
British studio Snook Architects has overhauled a dilapidated eighteenth-century barn in Yorkshire to create a modern home with chunky wooden trusses, exposed brickwork and a double-height family kitchen (+ slideshow).
Cat Hill Barn was first built as an agricultural shed, but had been abandoned for years and was on the brink of ruin after previous owners had inserted a truss structure that was too weak to support the roof, causing the outer walls to bow.
Snook Architects was tasked with rebuilding the internal structure and roof of the barn, removing a floor added previously by a local architect, and transforming the space into a two-storey family home.
“Structurally the building was in a worse state than we first anticipated,” architect Neil Dawson told Dezeen. “As well as removing the entire roof, which frankly was on the verge of collapse, we ended up having to secure all external walls by means of a steel structural frame that sits within the existing masonry.”
The team replaced the existing roof structure with a system of pegged oak trusses that are revealed in the double-height kitchen and dining room at the centre of the building.
“Spatially we wanted to retain the spirit of the place by allowing the barn to reveal itself and its double-height volume at key points,” said Dawson.
A glazed first-floor gallery overlooks this space from above, leading through to bedrooms at both ends of the first floor, while living rooms and guest bedrooms occupy the end sections of the ground floor.
“Planning of the project concentrated on creating drama within the existing structure by focusing on the tension and release formed between constricted single-height spaces and the double-height volume of the barn,” said the architect.
Interior fittings and finishes were designed to respect the honest utilitarian aesthetic of the old barn and include a stone fireplace, timber-framed windows and a poured concrete floor.
Cat Hill Barn is the complete renovation and refurbishment of a previously dilapidated grade II listed barn in South Yorkshire. Originally built in the late 1700’s as agricultural storage for the neighbouring Cat Hill Hall, the building in recent years stood neglected and was at the point of complete ruin.
Snook have secured the existing structure of the barn with a new internal steel framework and rebuilt the previously collapsing roof. The project has attempted to retain much of the working aesthetic of the barn utilising a stripped down utilitarian palette of material.
Planning of the project also concentrated on creating drama within the existing structure by focusing on the tension and release formed between constricted single-height spaces and the double-height volume of the barn.
Brief
Prior to the appointment of Snook Architects the owners of the barn had commissioned a feasibility study from a local rural architect. Despite not having any prior construction experience both Mr and Mrs Wills were disappointed with the outcome. The scheme essentially inserted a new floor throughout the full length of the barn and created a series of boxes over the two floors. All drama and sense of space within the barn structure was destroyed.
Through a mutual client of Snook and Mr Wills, Mr Wills discovered the work of Snook Architects and set up a competitive interview with Snook and another practice. It was the production of Snook’s speculative feasibility study that largely set up the brief. In presenting the scheme and having a critical discourse about the previous scheme both the clients and Snook discovered a mutual appreciation and understanding of the essence of the project: a need to retain the sense of the barn in both use of volumetric space and utilitarian finish. It was this mutual understanding that ultimately won Snook the project.
Planning
However, despite an almost immediate synergy with the client and owners of the barn a less successful understanding was achieved with the local planning authority. Despite repeated attempts at dialogue with the local planning and conservation officer an application was ultimately refused. Reasons cited were numerous but all ultimately pointed to the planning and conservation officers feeling that the scheme was too ‘domestic’ (despite both the spaces and finishes proposed being anything but domestic). Following the refusal Snook launched an appeal and after removing a small balcony from the gable end permission was successfully granted almost 16 months after initially starting the project.
The project then stalled for a further couple of years as with the credit crunch in full swing the owners of the barn found it impossible to sell their current home to raise funds for the conversion of the barn. Finally, in summer 2011 Mr and Mrs Wills were able to sell their house, a caravan was purchased, drawings were resurrected, and the scheme began on site later that year.
Structure
Both client and architect had always been aware of the perilous state of the structure with the architect and structural engineer instructing the owners to seal the barn and keep out. It was no exaggeration to state that the roof could have literally collapsed in at any moment. In short when previous owners had rebuilt the barn they had installed trusses that were both too weak and too short for the cross sectional span.
To exacerbate matters the completely inadequate trusses were supported on breeze block corbels which were also crushing towards wholesale failure. In short the trusses were collapsing and pushing the perimeter walls out. Walls were seriously bowed out and it was immediately apparent that both the roof and the perimeter walls could literally collapse at any moment.
Construction of the superstructure was relatively straight forward. The roof and one of the main perimeter walls were carefully taken down, a new steel supporting frame was inserted inside the building and walls and the roof were then re built around the steel frame (using the existing material).
Budget on the project was incredibly tight with the project initially tendered @ £231,000 and ultimately delivered for £234,383 – an astounding £710/sq.m (including all finishes).
Construction programme on the project at tender was nine months and it was delivered in just short of ten.
Latticed wooden screens form balustrades for a red pigmented concrete staircase inside this renovated mews house in west London by British studio Jonathan Tuckey Design.
Named Submariner’s House, the three-storey residence was redesigned by Jonathan Tuckey Design for a resident who used to work on a submarine. This client asked for a home that maximises space and includes a new basement and roof terrace.
The compact proportions of the building led to a simple layout with one main room on each floor and a focal staircase that runs along one wall.
“Our ambition was to provide a series of new domestic spaces that were pulled together as a whole by a new staircase and voids between the different levels to create a psychologically expanded space,” said project architect Ryuta Hirayama.
Red pigment was added to concrete to give a warm colour to the staircase. It is fronted by screens made from timber slats, which are white washed so that they appear bleached and have diagonal braces for handrails.
On the ground floor, an illuminated glass box sits at the end of the staircase to allow light to reach a shower room in the basement.
The rest of the newly excavated basement is used as a games room. Felt-lined walls slide back to reveal shelves and cupboards, and the room can also be partitioned to create a small guest bedroom.
More built-in cupboards line the walls of a ground-floor kitchen and dining room, while old stable doors open the room out to the quiet street.
The living room occupies the first floor and the client’s bedroom can be found on the storey above. There’s also an en suite bathroom including a limestone bath and a skylight with adjustable opacity.
Here’s a project description from Jonathan Tuckey Design:
Submariner’s House
Reconstruction of a mews house in the conservation area of St Luke’s Mews, west London.
Brief
Full refurbishment of a three storey mews house and construction of a new basement for a private client who is an ex-submariner. The house consists of a kitchen/dining room on the ground floor, living room on the 1st floor,bedroom/bathroom on the 2nd floor and media room in the basement which can also be used as a guest bedroom.
This late Victorian mews house is located in a conservation area allowing us only minor alteration works to the external facade. Briefed to maximise both the living and storage space in this small mews house, our ambition was to provide a series of new domestic spaces that were pulled together as a whole by a new staircase and voids between the different levels to create a psychologically expanded space.
Concrete stairs and screen
The staircase is made from red pigmented concrete and is veiled in a delicate screen of whitened timber slats that acts as both balustrade and room divider. In places this screen parts to reveal views through the house and, together with the strategically positioned new windows, helps to join the different levels and spaces of the house into one. Polished plaster walls also tie the spaces together and draw light deep in to the building.
A newly excavated basement allowed for the addition of a new media room and guest accommodation and a sequence of felt-lined panels and cupboards allow this space to accommodate its mix of functions.
The main entrance garage door can be opened out a full 180 degrees and with an integrated folding table can create a dining room extended into the street. A glass box by the entrance door lets natural light into the basement shower room. The entire polished plaster wall alongside the kitchen/dining room conceals a cupboard with black MDF shelves.
Skylight on the pitched bathroom roof allows natural light to flood into the bedroom. A control on the skylight allows the client to adjust the opacity of the glass while looking up at the sky from the bathtub. Bathtub is made of limestone and the floor is tiled with natural cement tiles.
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