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Architects: Edgley Design
- Area: 425 m²
- Year: 2012
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Photographs:Jack Hobhouse
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Manufacturers: Angel Upholstery, BBS Green Roofing, Peter Benson Plywood, Steyson, Toureen Mangan, Westminster Carpets
Text description provided by the architects. This self-build project for the practice director Jake Edgley’s own family home, was initiated, designed and contracted by Edgley Design.
The concept began with a 100 year old pear tree, a remnant of the site’s history as a Victorian fruit orchard. The house has been built around the tree, creating an internal courtyard that brings light and air to the centre of the plan, while turning the house inward to remain private from the surrounding terraced houses.
The site is long and thin, and the layout is arranged around the changing light of the day, with the kitchen looking to the north east for morning light, the living areas looking south west onto the pear tree courtyard for light from midday, and the lowered snug in the centre of the building as a cosy retreat in the evening.
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In terms of inclusivity, the house is open plan with circulation designed to flow generously as space rather than corridor. The layout and structure allow varied flexibility to provide for future disabled occupants, either with stairlifts or platform lifts.
The intention is for the house to blend into its wooded backland context as far as possible. To this end the details emphasise the vertical articulation of the building, and views through the building are defined by slender vertical elements which echo the experience of looking through trees.
Product Description. The ground floor walls are cast in concrete with vertical timber formwork, with a natural grain and texture that blends into the surroundings, and a robust finish where the walls meet the ground and are exposed to the weathering of nature and occupants. The internal staircore has a smooth ply finish to give a softer surface where it is touched by the inhabitants. These staircores provide lateral stability and create dramatic, naturally lit spaces from the rooflights above.
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