Having designed the McGovern House in the same road, the client invited me to design him a house on a derelict stables site he owned & had spent years trying to get permission to develop.
The only way the client could get planning approval was under Paragraph 55 of the Planning Act. This requires “truly outstanding, innovative design of exceptional quality”. No pressure there then. Time to get out the charcoal & sheets of paper.
It seemed to me the solution to the difficult sunken site was to create a slender single storey structure to form a “bridge” over accommodation below, with a concealed courtyard to bring light into a basement. The light could then spill through into a two storey rear structure, facing a walled garden. The front elevation was kept as simple as possible, using a grid of Cor-Ten fenestration & the roof was folded down the sides & finished in the same material. The metal was used to blend the building into the background & practicality of construction. This was chamfered to reduce the visual thickness of an insulated roof. We obtained design review approval & full planning permission under Paragraph 55 by MADE as being “innovative, raising architectural standards & enhancing its immediate setting”
Our involvement finished at this stage..
The house is in the long list of 20 for RIBA House of the Year 2019.
Sketch by Adrian Baynes – Virtual modelling by John Thatcher
