This Grade 2 listed property set in beautiful grounds and overlooking an area or outstanding natural beauty has grown organically since it was first constructed, possibly in Tudor times. Its development has been in three principal phases; a much altered farm building, a subsequent dairy and a fine Regency wing, which in its self may prove to be a very early example of a ‘make-over’. Further alterations, stretching right up to the 1970’s were done in an adhoc manner and the resultant confusion left the house feeling very plain with only the regency section still intact. The client required a refurbishment of the entire house, raising it up to modern standards of comfort, bringing redundant spaces into use and removing the worst of the ‘improvements’ that had been carried out. This process had to be undertaken in close consultation with the local authority Conservation and Listed Buildings department who were involved from the outset of the project. The Georgian group was also engaged by the client to document the history of the building and advise on elements of restoration such as missing chimneypieces, dado rails etc.
As is often the case with buildings which have grown incrementally, the circulation had become confused and illogical. Entry was through an inadequate lobby in one wing of the building and routes between the two wings of the house meant passing though several rooms, even going downstairs to go back up again. HEO saw the reorganization of the circulation as crucial to the success of the design. Listed buildings were prepared to allow an entirely new main entrance at the intersection between the two wings of the building, achieved through the removal of a relatively recent outhouse structure and store. It was agreed that this should read as a modern extension and be in contrast to the historic structures one brick and one rendered and painted white. Its attachment to the existing buildings was crucial and glazed sections at the abutments reveal the existing finishes running seamlessly from inside to outside. This new space forms part of a group of three similar elements. Detailed in Iroko and copper to compliment the existing material palate on the garden façade they open the main living spaces visually and physically to the garden and also provide a route for visitors to the front door.
The older wing of the house, substantially gutted in the 1970’s was taken back to its original historic structure. A kitchen, dining and living room occupies the resultant space with a mezzanine floor above for cinema screenings is accessed either by a staircase concealed behind walnut paneling, (an echo of the houses oldest stair) or by a glass bridge over a void created by the removal of the 1970’s plant room. The stair and bridge play a key part in the re ordering of the circulation routes throughout the building.
The Regency wing was restored and HEO worked closely with the client and their interior designer to carefully integrate modern services (dramatically improving the thermal comfort), restore damaged or missing details, decorate and furnish the rooms in the appropriate manner. This provides a satisfying contrast with the more contemporary interventions elsewhere. The refurbished property is now a splendid, sophisticated and practical country home.
This substantial house was built in the 1920’s and stands in a beautiful, mature, private garden sloping in terraces to the south. The existing house is in the arts and crafts style and exhibits many features commonly used in houses of this period. These include unequal eaves to steeply pitched roofs, a combination of contrasting materials and a picturesque composition where the horizontal elements are offset by complex vertical chimneystacks.
The client required additional bedrooms and open-plan kitchen dining living space as well as a pool house and gym annex. Only the front of the house currently relates to the garden with a covered veranda, the refurbishment proposed should allow the clients to benefit from the garden all day long and all year round.
HEO’s proposal involves removing the rear section of the house and replacing it with the required accommodation on two floors and opening up to the side garden with the pool house completing the composition to the north of the site. Although the proposed extension is contemporary in its use of space, technology and materials HEO felt that it should relate in sprit to the architectural language of the Arts and Crafts movement. A new double height bay window articulates the arrival elevation giving it a grander scale than the others. It also forms a defining junction between the existing and new building systems. The pool house at the top of the site composes the view coming up the drive extending the language of the buildings to the back of the site. The elevation facing the north relates exclusively to the pool building giving views of the landscaping linking the pool to the main house. The courtyard area facing west and formed between the extension and the original house is accessed through sliding folding doors, which extend across the dining area to the outside. Smaller scale materials have been introduced here to compliment the host building more directly.
The pool house located at the rear of the site embraces views down the slope of the garden. A series of landscaped steps and ramps take up the changes in level, linking the pool house to the main building, the landscaping being integral to the spatial composition of the design. The south facing pool house roof is mono-pitched above the pool, which creates an interesting interior space and also provides an ideal location for solar panels to heat both pool and house.
New windows, like the existing ones, are to be a combination of metal and timber but with large glazed panels (now available since the original house was constructed due to improvements in glass technology). HEO have sought to utilise the language of asymmetrical arrangements of opening lights and fixed panels, which is similar in approach to the original design. Hand made brick to the new sections refers to the detailing of the original house and is used for spandrel panels, the inner walls of the courtyard and the new chimney. Brick is also used for form perforated screens where privacy is required such as the main bathroom and the gym, both of which face the driveway. The original pebbledash is to be contrasted with a hi-tech self-finished render system with the resultant changes in detailing at openings as afforded by the technology.
In summary, the existing house is essentially picturesque in its composition and crafted in its detailing, the new extension seeks to the retain and enhance these qualities without reverting to pastiche. The scheme received planning consent in January 2010.
Date: 2009-2010
Quantity Surveyor: Anthony Silver and Associates
Images: Louise Scannell
When HEO first visited the property they were impressed by the beauty of the original house, much of which was as first built with timber panelling, marble fireplaces and a cooking range in the basement. The lovely rooms and the dolls house exterior was a Georgian set piece with pretensions of grandeur despite its size.
Unfortunately however the house suffered from lack of space and the rooms were dark due to having a single aspect. The grand exterior concealed surprisingly small rooms and the hierarchy of the original layout relating to separating kitchen, living and dining rooms was no longer meaningful. A previous bathroom extension had been added which detracted rather than enhanced the existing building.
HEO wished to design an extension that they felt reflected the elegance, refinement and proportions of the original whilst resolving the spatial organisation. The result is a simple brick box with a double height window, a bold contemporary statement, containing spaces that feel more generous than that reflected in the footprint but all designed with a respect to the proportions of the original house.
The large window gives a sense of grandeur which is present in the existing. Though this is not normally an aspect of rear extensions, its the location at the end of the terrace and as a gate house to the mews behind generated the “push-me-pull-you” condition where front and rear elevations are of equal importance.
Exploiting the split level of the house, the ground floor room is almost double height. It gives directly onto the courtyard garden which can now be fully utilised and is flooded with sunlight almost all day. The upper floor houses a bedroom with en-suite shower room with the inner room being transformed into a dressing area. The old external window opening between the sitting room and the extension has been retained, as has a vestige of the original external brickwork, with the actual window being relocated to give the new music room a dual aspect. The exploitation of the change in level results in a more complex relationship between the living spaces. Although the extensions dimensions are also modest the whole house now feels much more airy and spacious.
The client has chosen unusual and bold colours combinations of browns, pinks and purples and the result is a rich and varied sequence of interconnecting views through the older and the new areas of the house and a more sophisticated spatial layout better suited the client’s lifestyle and needs.
Date: 2009
Floor area: Extension 55 m sq
Structural Engineer: CWPM
Photographs: Jefferson Smith
Formed after years of accretions, this long, thin house has its origins as the passageway between two apartment blocks. One block was bombed in the war leaving only its gable wall and chimney breasts. By extending at the rear we made the plan even deeper. The judicious manipulation of stairwells and bathrooms enhances both the sense of openness throughout and the fluidity of all the internal spaces via landings and pausing places. Small and uncomfortable spaces are avoided by clever use of folding doors and screens allowing areas such as the home office to disappear at the end of the working day. The privacy of the rear garden generates a high degree of transparency from the rear façade, allowing views onto trees, a school playground and the London Eye in the near distance. Uninterrupted glazing combines with solid side panels, which open out as balconies for moments of contemplation or simply to test the temperature. The house, only 2.4m wide at its narrowest point, now has a sense of generosity not found in its previous incarnation.
Date: 2008
Floor area: 110 sqm
Structural Engineer: CWPM
Photographs: Jefferson Smith
The SPAN houses designed by Eric Lyons are considered to be at the forefront of post-war private house design and have continued to receive recognition, most recently in an RIBA exhibition and the publication of a corresponding book in 2008. HEO studio were therefore delighted to be commissioned to extend one of the houses on the Corner Green estate in Greenwich.
At the end of the terrace, the house had an L-shaped garden, half of which was used only as a side passage. After producing several options for the location of the extension, HEO found the best to be in the corner of the plot. This would give access to both sides of the garden from the new living room and would create morning and afternoon external areas. Materials and details of the extension were to match those of the existing houses while the simplicity of the existing ground floor plan would be made significantly more complex with the new room providing a free flowing and varied space not present in the original house design. The top lit WC and utility area, both part of the brief, were concealed behind cherry panelling and took up the odd angle formed by the site boundary. The veneered niche, lit from above by a tiny roof light, cleverly provided a transition between the living room and utility area by becoming a kind of lobby. It also increased the perceived size of the new room and introduced a whimsical element to the house, in complete contrast to the rigorous, practical and compact planning used in the design of the original houses. The landscape for the estate, however, had a wonderful sense of composition and was a whimsical set piece. The contrast between this and the build forms is central to the success of the original development and very much part of it. HEO felt that the extension should feel like a natural part of the scheme, whilst being more individual and quirky to reflect the change in design philosophy since the original build.
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