Best Architecture Single Residence EUROPE Award Winner 2024-2025

Best Architecture Single Residence UK Award Winner 2024-2025

Best Architecture Single Residence Surrey Award Winner 2024-2025

Sited on the brow of rolling hills overlooking a valley on the edge of the Surrey Hills Natural Landscape with a backdrop of mature woodland, the concave curved plan provides different views from the principal spaces along the southern elevation while the curved circulation spaces offer tantalising glimpses between rooms. Spine walls, following straight radii lines from a common centre point, divide the curved walls to create and define the spaces.

The curved plan is also echoed in the split curved roof mixing barrel vaults and S-spline roof forms with an interlinking flat roof entrance hall and the curving roof forms express the rolling nature of the surrounding Surrey Hills. Internally, the curved glu-lam beams forming the barrel vault roofs are visible in the ceilings to the main reception spaces and principal bedroom suite. These main spaces are positioned on the southern side of the building, leaving circulation spaces and ancillary utility spaces to the north, to take advantage of the views over the rolling hills and valley below. In order to ensure overheating isn’t an issue, solar control triple glazing to the southern elevation is combined with the deep overhanging roofs to the ground floor spaces which also creates outdoor covered dining spaces.

The curved floor plan, with radii varying from 25m to 38m, created interesting construction issues not just in terms of setting out but also curved steelwork, curving plasterboard to follow the faceted blockwork walls, steel spine staircases following the radii of curved walls, setting straight windows in curved walls etc. For the zinc standing seam roof, each panel tapers in plan to take up the curve while also bending to follow the roof profile; curving in three dimensions for the S-spline roof section as well. The attention to detail required to produce such a high-quality and unusual build tested all the contractors on site but the end result speaks for itself and the client, and we, are delighted with the finished home.

Externally, the paved terrace is carefully set out to pick up on the spine walls in straight lines with diagonal paving between to take up the curved plan. The overhanging roofs are supported on a series of timber and steel posts, aligned with the internal spine walls and reminiscent of the curving colonnades of Classical antiquity such as Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli. The internal spine walls are further expressed externally with low stone clad walls extending beyond the line of the terrace to divide the private terraces from the bedroom wing with the outdoor entertainment areas leading down to the outdoor kitchen, swimming pool with its retractable enclosure and attached gym, games room and changing facilities.

The soft palette of external materials and colours was carefully chosen to represent the tones of the woodland behind and the sandy soils of the local area. Ecoscape composite recycled timber cladding, Norstone stone cladding, VM Zinc roofing and aluminium powder coated rainwater goods and self-coloured soffit and fascia boards minimise future maintenance.

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Thank you to Matt Chisnall for his photography work again

Due to the vagaries of East Hampshire District Council’s planing policy, a number of applications had to be submitted to extend the existing cottage (on paper at least) to form a realistic “fall-back” position where the existing cottage could be significantly increased in size above what would normally be permitted for a replacement dwelling. With these extension permissions secured, a planning application could then be submitted for the new house.

The client’s initial brief was for the new home to have the simple built-form, reminiscent of traditional gable-end and rectangular agricultural barn structures with lower eaves, but with a contemporary aesthetic overall externally and internally. Materials were to be a mix of simple timber cladding and stonework with slate and standing seam metal roofing. The finalised design is for a U-shaped building creating a sheltered courtyard to the rear, looking out over the sloping site and woodland beyond. The wings of the U-shape are single storey and contain the main living space and principal bedroom; both of which are vaulted to give large windows and to take advantage of the simple construction nature of a SIPs build. The building form is expressed on the ends of the two storey and single storey wings with aluminium clad panels from ground level and over the edges of the roof. The single storey elements are stone clad with a zinc standing seam roof, the two storey front section of the bulding is timber clad with slate roof.

The ground floor contains the principal bedroom, ensuite and dressing room, study, laundry / utility room (complete with dog-shower…), and the open plan kitchen, dining and reception room. A fourth bedroom with ensuite completes the ground floor accommodation. The vaulted entrance hall, with sunked spiral wine-store as a focus and talking point in the centre of the space, leads up to a bridge link between the two first-floor bedrooms and bathrooms. The gable ends of the first-floor bedrooms are completed wih re-entrant balconies, set back from the end of the bulding to give privacy and shading to the glazing.

Large glazed openings facing south-west would normally be a concern with their potential for creating internal overheating; the lack of a cantilevered roof structure prevents deep eaves shading the windows. However, in keeping with the agricultural barn appearance, large sliding timber panels have ben designed and included that can be used to close off each of the south-west facing windows in summer on particularly hot days; with the sliding screens closed the doors behind can be opened to maintain a refreshing cross breeze through the building.

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SIPs Contractor was Bentley Projects

We were appointed by the client to redesign a previous house on the site that did not meet their size or architectural requirements. The overall site was part of a larger property that was to be demolished to make way for this new home on half the site with the other half sold off to developers to pay for the construction of their own home.

The heavy stucco porch with rusticated shallow arch contrasts with the softer stock brickwork of the main elevations complete with brick pilasters with stone capitals and stone surrounds to feature windows.

Planning Permission was granted in 2020 following an appeal for this new 4,650sqft (432sqm) home designed to reflect the vernacular architecture of the nearby homes. The house sits behind a dense screen of Tree Preservation Order protected planting and includes steep roofs, gable ends, timber lintels, roughcast render, clay tiles roofs and tall, decorative chimney stack. Stepped quoins to the front gable elevation, brick slip details in the apex of the gable roofs, black window cills, black painted timber bracketed window hoods and black fascias against white soffits all add to the high quality attention to detail coupled with the carefully thought through proportions to the elevations and room sizes.

The house is highly energy efficient with an EPC Rating of A (93) acheived by the use of a well-insulated timber frame, air-source heat pump, underfloor heating, whole house mechanical ventilation incorporating heat recovery and solar panels with a battery back-up system and immersion heater booster for when the batteries are full. The house also includes a 22kW fast electric car charger to take full advantage of the solar panels.

The property has a traditional yet contemporary feel, designed and built to offer classically proportioned
rooms, with a layout perfectly designed for modern family living with neutral crisp interiors. The house is laid out around a spacious double height entrance hall and galleried staircase. Contemporary dark stained oak floors throughout the ground floor are laid over undefloor heating. The dual-aspect formal drawing room, with a central elegant fireplace, sits at the front of the house with a home office to the othersdie of the entrance hall. A large open-plan family living space, dining room and kitchen sit behind the entrance hall and lead through two sets of double doors open to the garden and a second pair of double doors open to a dual-aspect family room.

The kitchen is fitted with bespoke handmade and painted elegant white shaker style cabinetry designed by Charles Yorke and quartz marble worktops and features a large island with breakfast bar seating, which is a perfect spot for a morning coffee, every day dining or for entertaining guests with whilst cooking.

The first and second floor accommodates six bedrooms with the principal bedroom featuring a dressing area and ensuite bathroom.

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The site, while a simple rectangle on plan, slopes down considerably from the road level and the new design takes advantage of this to step down from the front of the house (entrance hall, reception and utility room) to the rear of the house to give the open plan kitchen / dining room and adjacent TV room / snug a more generous ceiling height.

Designed using traditional double pitched roof form the dark timber cladding and crisp white render are complemented with dark bronze coloured window frames, rainwater goods and fascias.

The symetrical roof has been created as the road itself south to north and the lowered eaves to the north ensure that from the neighbour’s view the replacement house has no impact on theie view of skyor created an unacceptable loss of daylight. A detailed Daylight Impact Assessment was carried out using 3D modelling software to create Waldram Diagrams and to ensure that the Visible Sky Component and Annual Probable Sunlight Hours remained above the BRE recommended impact limits.

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The existing single storey bungalow with shallow pitched roof was to be replaced with a new predominantly two storey home. To the rear, the open plan kitchen dining family room areas sit half a level up from the ground floor to take advantage of the natural levels across the site.

Designed to be built using a well-insulated and lightweight timber frame the overhanging roofs to the south and west elevations provide natural passive solar controls. Whole House Mechanical Ventilation coupled with ground source heat pumps ensured that the scheme surpassed the requirements of Building Regulations for energy efficiency. Detailed 3D modelling and assessments of the roof overhangs were carried out with annual sun-hour calculations to the large areas of glazing checked using the geosynchronised 3D model.

The flat roof design ensured that the overall height of the new building was only 0.5m higher than the ridge line of the existing house and the L-shaped plan allowed the frontage of the existing buildings to be reduced from 25m to 17m for the replacement building; all of which ensured that the planners agreed that the proposals would not appear more intrusive in the AONB landscape.

The flat roofs are covered with Badum’s XF301 lightweight sedum roofing blanket to increase biodiversity on the site and compensate for the larger footprint of the new building. External lighting is kept below the roof and first floor overhangs or are cowelled to ensure downlight cast light only as the site sits within a Dark Skies protected area; the use of warm white 3,000k LED lights providing no more than 7.6 lux meets the requirements of the Bat Conservation Trust’s guidance on external lighting.

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The first of several new homes to be completed on a large site on the edge of Farnham in Surrey, this new timber frame home scores a high A rating (94) on the EPC due to the use of additional insulation, air source heat pumps, over 3Kw of photovoltaic solar panels coupled with a 6Kwh battery storage and whole house mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

The wrap-around verhanda to the south and west elevations provides a simple and traditional solution that ensures that overheating due to solar gains in summer months is eliminated as it protects the large french doors and windows to the ground floor living spaces. The verhanda also provides a covered porch area to the front entrance and a sheltered area to the garden terrace.

Soft coloured Dove Grey painted timber cladding blends with the natural slate roofing with lead hip and ridge rolls but is accented by the white framing to the windows, corner posts, verhanda supports and gable fascias.

Internally, the ground floor includes a large open plan kitchen, dining and family space, a seperate reception room, study and a ground floor bedroom with ensuite facilities.

The first floor includes four generous double bedrooms, two further ensuites and a large family bathroom.

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Timberframe by Merronbrook.

Bespoke hand made kitchen from Charles Yorke Kitchens.

A Lawful Development Certificate was then sought to demonstrate realistic fall-back positions to extend the existing building before a fresh planning application was prepared and submitted for the new replacement homes.

Each home has approximately 125sqm of floor space including three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open plan kitchen / diner with two further reception room spaces and a utility room. Careful design planning from the outset ensured efficient and maximum use of the rooms to the first floor. Generous driveways and landscaped gardens wrap the pair of detached homes with large areas laid to lawn.

To design and construct a larger replacement home for a chalet style building which combined traditional building materials and detailing with a contemporary aesthetic.

Please click here to download the project brochure.

Summary:

The existing hip roofed chalet bungalow was raised above the surrounding site by approximately 0.9m. By lowering the new house this allowed the eaves to be raised accordingly in relation to the ground and first floors, minimising raked first floor ceilings. By using traditional gable roof forms raked ceilings were further reduced and kept to only the outside walls.

The large footprint with deep plan minimised external walls again and allowed the creation of the large rooms requested by the client. The Entrance Hall benefits from the tall glazed screen with oversized door (measuring almost 2.3m tall by 1.3m wide) and a 4sqm rooflight drops daylight into the heart of the building over the curving staircase.

External walls built of solid Horsham stone with real stone sills and headers are complimented by fire-blackened larch cladding boards, black painted soffits and fascias and natural slate roofing.

Large windows and sliding doors facing south and west open on the rear gardens, terraces and swimming pool with a contemporary, flat roofed, single storey rear with two vertical panels of matching stone along a fully glazed wall and return panels.

To the first floor, the two main bedrooms take advantage of the steeply pitched roof with vaulted ceilings and glazing following the roof line.  Dormer window detailing is kept simple and modest with flat lead roofs.

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Photographs (c) Matt Chisnall Architectural Photography

The rear of the plot rises up from the sunken rear terrace and extensive pergola feature to create a sheltered garden entertaining area.

The double height central entrance hall with a feature curving stair, large rooflight and full glazing includes a generous galleried landing. Glazed doors throughout the ground floor ensures that the owners can enjoy views through the house to the gardens beyond.

The flat, cantilevered roof design, low retaining walls and use of different materials extenuates the low, horizontal feel of the scheme while the roof and balconies around the house also provides passive solar control to the large areas of glazing on both floors.

Planning is expected to be submitted in Summer 2020.

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