Typically, housing projects look at sites ranging from potential for two or three units up to a dozen or so. Below are example images taken from a number of Feasibility Studies carried out.

Designed around the concept of two interlocking and overlapping curved timber walls to the north side and open, glazed elevations to the south elevation this Contemporary new home incorporates many passive environmentally beneficial ideas including the ‘green’ sedum planted roof, smaller openings through a well insulated north facing façade, deep overhanging roofs and the cantilevered balcony to the south elevation protecting the interior from excessive solar gain in summer while allowing the low winter sun to penetrate deep into the building. Wood burning suspended stoves in the principal reception space and snug supplement ground source heat pump underfloor heating.

The curved walls are formed as a two storey timber ‘palisade’ wall and have only slot windows (horizontal and vertical) set within deep reveals. This curving façade and absence of visible roof from the front reduces the visual impact of the building within it’s heavily planted site. The vertical boarding, from locally sourced sweet chestnut coppices, would weather naturally to allow the building to further blend into its site.

The curved palisade continues around to the south side of the building to embrace and to provide shelter and privacy to the courtyard. The height of the screen falls away and slots are cut within it to give views through and over the rolling hills beyond. The line of the curved screen is picked out and reinforced within the surface finish of the courtyard.

The contrasting front entrance block with dramatically cantilevered overhang canopy signifies the entrance and retains a level of ‘domestic’ architecture within the timber screen.

The projecting walls of polished black marble are inspired by an image provided by the client of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly.

Feasibility Designs carried out for Zero6 Developments for eight new large semi-detached ‘Victorian’ houses for a site in Esher, Surrey following the demolition of three existing houses.

The brief required that the houses were designed to reflect the predominantly ‘Victorian’ style of existing houses around the site using selected stonework and brickwork detailing, terracotta feature panels and decorative timber detailing to the eaves, gables and porches.

This design for a substantial new replacement house is in response to the ever increasing number of poor quality mock Georgian developer homes being built on the highly desirable Webb Estate in Purley, laid out by William Webb at the turn of the twentieth century.

The majority of the original buildings remaining are of a vernacular Surrey Arts & Crafts style which this house draws its inspiration from.

Ground floor living accommodation is sited towards the rear of the property to maximise the views over the extensive mature southerly gardens while the Master Bedroom Suite and Guest Suite are likewise set to the rear of the house. The large square bay windows to the south and west elevations extend over two storeys and offer increased daylighting to the rooms behind.

The double height space entrance hall with galleried landing gives immediate access to the main reception rooms, which are all interlinked allowing a mix of modern ‘open-plan’ living to the family rooms with more formal spaces such as the main reception space and dining room given a degree of segregation.

The extensive loft space has been designed for use as a games room / gym / multimedia flexible space with an additional guest / au pair suite.

The images are taken from sketch designs for the main central Leisure Complex for a new Holiday Park in the Cumbria. We were invited to prepare designs by the client to replace the existing planning permission scheme which was felt to be unsatisfactory.

A full 3D topographical model of the site was created which allowed these proposals to take advantage of the natural slope of the site to provide the additional storey of accommodation, the double height space to the main pool areas, and also reduce the footprint of the building without increasing the height of the front elevation – a stipulation of the existing planning permission.

The Leisure Club is split into two distinct areas – the main Hub including swimming pool, cafe, shop, reception, changing areas, sales area, play rooms, public bar, toilets etc. Alongside the main Hub is the private health club including saunas, splash pool, private bar, treatment rooms, gymnasium, changing facilties etc.

Works are now underway on site laying out the whole in accordance with the Masterplan scheme we prepared.

Designed around the concept of the traditional Village Green the layout has been driven by the needs of the pedestrian rather than by the car.

A new ‘village green’ is established in the centre of the development giving equal access to all plots. Radiating from this are a series of views and vistas along which pedestrian routes are set out.

Larger houses are clustered around the green, facing onto it, with smaller houses evenly distributed around the site together with affordable homes.

Key feature buildings are set up at the end of the long views to act as ‘full stops’ and to maintain the village perimeters.

Road layouts are deliberately convoluted with straight sections kept to a maximum of 60m to maintain speeds below 30mph. Mews areas and rear parking courts also take the emphasis away from front garden parking areas. Road and footpaths follow the building lines, while meeting the requirements of vehicle tracking, ensuring that the spaces created relate to the buildings and not the needs of the motor car.

A landscaped buffer is kept to the south-west Greenbelt land beyond and the existing mature planting to the boundary is also maintained.

Pedestrian links to the rest of the existing village are introduced to ensure that the new development is integrated with the current community.

The overall concept is for two bold and dramatic buildings linked by a strong architectural feature that also defines the site and brings the two elements together both visually and functionally.

The curving roughcast concrete wall serves not only to form the rear of the site and to embed the buildings almost within the sand-dunes, giving the appearance that the buildings rise up out of the dunes themselves, but also to act as this visual link between Restaurant and Boat House.

The curved ramp, formed from reclaimed sleepers to be reminiscent of the groynes up and down this part of the coast, gives access to the viewing platform over the restaurant while the sliding timber screens that form two sides of the restaurant give many options to physically expand the restaurant footprint, pulling back in summer to take in the terrace and folding up in winter to provide protection from the cold North Sea winds.

The boat house is located on the end of the site and the first floor viewing platform offers excellent views along the beach in both directions. The boats are stored at ground level immediately in front of the access ramp to the beach and sea. The first floor of the boat house also provides training room and changing rooms.

The proposed new building should reflect contemporary thoughts on architecture and provide an innovative solution that respects the architectural history of the former Royal Naval Hospital site without resulting in a pastiche of the existing buildings.

An analysis of the site and existing surroundings and buildings has been carried out to determine what approach should be taken to the design of the new building in terms of massing, materials, proportions etc. The following observations have been made and are reflected in the design of the proposed building; In general the surrounding buildings (and indeed the existing Old dispensary Building being replaced) take the form of large single blocks, often with roofs hidden behind parapet eaves. The blocks are broken up and sub-divided by the use of symmetrically placed central vertical features and horizontal banding details.

The proposed new building has been designed as a large single block broken vertically into individual elements by the use of set backs in contrasting materials. Passive solar shading in the form of ‘briese soliel’ provide horizontal banding to the main south elevation, as does the horizontal timber cladding around the main square have a subsidiary tower element to the ends of the main blocks, possibly housing the vertical circulation. The proposal includes a subsidiary element to the south-west corner which is clad in a contrasting material to exaggerate its separation from the main building.

The predominant material on the whole site is a grey stone but the two buildings immediately adjacent to the Old Dispensary are constructed of a pale yellow brick, as is the existing Old Dispensary building as well.

The proposed building is to be faced in a pale material such as sweet chestnut timber or a pale terracotta system to pick up on the warmer yellow tones within the adjacent buildings. The slate cladding to the vertical elements with compliment the surrounding stonework.

Roofs are either slated or tiled and are generally hipped or mansard to the larger buildings to keep the overall roof form less imposing. The proposed mansard roof form is to be clad in sheet leadwork to provide a contrasting dark roof. The new building is proposed to have a central circulation core giving access to all the apartments above ground floor level. This circulation core with be topped with a glazed and louvred ‘chimney’ which will provide additional natural light to the central core but also aid natural ventilation through stack effect with warm air rising and fresh air being drawn in to the lower levels.