twinley house 2004 whitchurch • hampshire

we were commissioned to design and procure a country house to replace a 1960′s ‘chalet bungalow’.  The idyllic site is set in an isolated rural location behind a square of ancient oaks that add context to the designs, where a blend between local vernacular precedence for new buildings join up with our client’s desire to benefit from contemporary design approaches. These are resolved in an efficient and generous plan and a design that uses every pragmatic environmental design solution from  attractive soft natural materials (local flint and brick), very high insulation values, efficient natural cross ventilation made possible by the short width elongated plan form that is typical of the Practice’s design style,  tight fitting structure (before part L air tightness constraints were mandatory),  underfloor heating in all areas to accept ground-source heat exchange technology when required, a suitable south facing and unobtrusive roof plane for future pv and solar thermal arrays.  Landscaped gardens reflect the internal space usages for north/east entry, south and west family sunny and private orientations, east facing the driveway  and a more formal ‘parkland’ landscape, all designed by Robin Templar Williams