Project Brief

A single storey house was demolished and the garden entirely remodelled removing a famously high leylandii hedge enclosing an unimaginatively planted quasi-Japanese scheme.

The brief required the design of a substantial new family house within a Private Estate in Esher that responded to a number of principal tenets. The clients had spent a considerable time in Kualur Lumpur, Malaysia and combined with a professional knowledge of trees and plants, a house and garden treatment reflecting east meets west became a central strand for the design. From the strengths of the Practice design stable, there is an 'arts and crafts revisited in 2003' philosophy that has greatest input into the appearance of the building from the street as well as plan organisation.

Light, interesting spatial play, the use of contrasts, the need to entertain on a grand scale, opportunity for art/sculpture and furniture, the requirement for exciting private space for his teenage daughters, within an efficient and practical framework were buzzwords for the design generators. Feng Shui principles modified the design from the outset. Costs were to be restrained providing value for money. Humour was not to be ignored!

Project Design Description

The house naturally divides into three parts - public, family and utility - split by a central entrance. The front façade is a honey coloured rendered solid wall punctuated with window and door openings rising from a canted soft red brick plinth base that forms a design continuum around the building. The south facing rear elevation has by contrast a translucence, created by full height glazing set within oak framework, given further interest by three dimensional use of external space under balconies, pergolas and behind juliette balconies.

The 'public' part of the house is entered through a lobby porch leading through oversize doors into a 'treble height' vaulted space with views through full height glazed panels over foreground garden and terrace, swimming pool and a horizon line, to trees in front of a tennis court imaginatively screened and sunk into land at the back of the building plot.

The staircase rising from the entrance/ dining hall was turned away from the front door in good feng shui design and leads to an open first floor gallery over the hall.

The study occupies a 'defensive' position (views to front and entrance) with a large living room with its own verandah on the garden (south) side. This element of the house has been cranked so that all rooms (views) from the rear elevation 'focus' towards the centre of the garden, away from the boundary line, to a feature ancient olive tree.

The 'family' part of the ground floor is divided into three main parts - family snug, kitchen, and conservatory dining area - as in the dining hall, the south facing wall is glazed with an external pergola. The kitchen also occupies a defensible space position with views to the front/public external area. The room designs all took into account the Clients particular furniture/ furnishing requirements, as well as placement of commissioned/ owned art, sculpture and artifacts.

The bedrooms all have adjoining bathrooms and are accessed off the long corridor running the length of the north elevation to dramatic effect.

The family sleeping area is over the family area of the ground floor, and is arranged with internal galleries in double height loft rooms with sliding doors behind juliette balconies and south facing private garden views.

The third 'utility' part of the building contains plant room, stores, larder, utility and wc, with a northerly projecting limb in which there is a flat above the garages which face sideways and are therefore hidden from the full on front view, particularly behind a tree planting scheme in this area.

Attention to detail is illustrated, for example by the unique design utilising a soft flowing profile to cornices, architraves and skirtings, which provide an internal reference connecting the feeling of linked space.

The structural envelope is provided by strip footings below load-bearing brick/blockwork (where solid) and pile foundation below timber clad steel frame (where skeletal) supporting a principally timber cut roof, dictated by open space roof voids.

M+E services were required to meet current thinking in terms of sustainability, efficiency and usage, as was the design in terms of insulation and thermal heat loss and gain efficiency. Underfloor heating within the floor screed was employed throughout the scheme, providing maximum flexibility of space usage as well as maximising the comfort zones in a house where envelope treatments varied between large areas of glazing and solid wall.

Feedback

The family have shown their appreciation for the design skills presented in this house. The project closely met its brief for cost restraint, oversailed on programme by three months, mainly due to difficulties within the Contracting organisation that only became apparent at practical completion. In summary, We believe we answered the expectations for an innovative house design that responded very specifically to an imaginative brief posed by our Clients.

Project type/ Sector

• Private Residential/ Family House: New-build

Client

• Private Family

Key Dates

• Instruction to provide professional services - September 2000
• Planning Application submission - January 2001
• Planning Consent Granted - March 2001
• Contract Commencement - August 2001
• Practical Completion - July 2002

Contract Value and Duration

• Band 1.5m - 2m
• 11 Months

Project Team

• Mike Blinco - Second London Wall - Project Managers
• Nick Shipp and Russell Hansen - Nick Shipp Architects - Architects
• Phillip Ross - PL Ross - Structural Engineers
• Contrad Construction Ltd - Main Contractors
• James O'Byrne - Hilson Moran Partnership - Mechanical and Electrical Engineers
• Tim Sharples - Cedar Nurseries - Landscape Consultants
• Liza Evans - Feng Shui by Design
• Louis Calleja - John Nash Antiques & Interiors - Interior Designers
• Claire Lofthouse - Mid River Stained Glass - Stain Glass Window Designers