The Engineers House
Nestling partially into the sites slope this crafted family home is embedded in the greenbelt and are of outstanding natural beauty. Concealed at the end of its site and itself wrapped in the landscape the home provides a private haven for the clients whilst giving over 70% of the site over to biodiversity and habitat enhancements.
After crafting and helping to realise homes for others, our clients wanted to create a home of their own. A place to grow and adapt. To take them from nesting to empty nesting, retirement and beyond.
We questioned what a home is through-out its life, how can we craft legacy?
This questioning of the homes life is carried through into the cradle-to-cradle approach to construction.
Project Info
Environmental Data
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Energy Efficiency
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Insulation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Thermal Mass
1 2 3 4 5
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Airtightness
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Solar PV
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Embodied Carbon
1 2 3 4 5
- Heating/Hot Water
-
Solar Thermal
Yes No
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Rain Water Harvest
Yes No
- Ventilation
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Energy Storage
Yes No
Securing permission for this new four-bedroom family home in the sensitive and tranquil area. Both greenbelt and an area of outstanding natural beauty was a collaborative process which resulted in a carefully considered scheme telling the story of place and people. Winning its appeal case it was a year long endeavour of a dedicated design team. As can be expected from a Paragraph 84 scheme.
With the existing site wrapped in trees and gently sloping to the north the scheme blends landscape and architecture. With the ramshackle buildings removed and replaced with a building which nestles into the sites topography and a pavilion like first floor which sits unassuming within the tree line.
An embedded sleeping wing is wrapped with the earth whilst the living wing of the new crafted home is anchored into site with a rising field flint wall. Acting like a ruin of what may have been, rooting it into place. The flint a material intent of using what can be found on the site.
Connecting the two masonry masses is a lightweight connection which feeds into a carved out courtyard to the east. Central to the plan this creates a point of connection a space to gather, celebrate and share as a family. Atop this glassy link sits a lightweight timber pavilion. Unassuming in its form it draws reference from the local agricultural buildings. Whilst internally it celebrates its structure and immerses the clients into the enhanced landscape
We believe that beauty is measurable and that even the most constrained project or site can be beautiful. Often, embracing constraints is a catalyst for inspirational resolutions. We respectfully celebrate the ‘question’, which has resulted in our reputation for bringing success to challenging and complex sites and project briefs.
With the nature of the clients it was no surprise that there was a desire to have a truth to structure in the house. To craft internal spaces which celebrated the materiality of the structure.
Internally exposed glulams form the base of the material palette, celebrating the structure in both the living spaces and master bedroom. The anchoring flint wall is also exposed internally helping to tell the story of the site.