Private Client

 

Having relocated from London to the village of Hassocks within the South Downs National Park this house, built in 1965/66 is something of a gem. Its modernist design is unique in its aesthetic, design, massing, and footprint to every other house within the immediate neighbourhood.

 

Although having worn well to date the part one, part two-storey detached property required some attention and modernising. DEDRAFT was asked by our return client to propose a scheme to change the use of a low-slung garage to form a guest/home office wing, adjoining it to the main house to form a splayed footprint with two wings of differing functions. The new central infill extension was to house the kitchen and dining space with easy access to the large expansive garden that features a pond and lake and a large raised patio unifying both wings.

 

A key stipulation of the brief was for an honest and in-keeping transformation, in which the aesthetic, composition, and materiality of the original house strongly informing the spatial layout, use of light and overall appearance of a complementary addition.

 

Our approach to addressing the different levels between the two wings was a strong use of horizontal and vertical planes to define and articulate the facade allowing us to address subtle steps in roofs and floors where required.  The insertion of a new dual-curved infill addition is to house an enlarged kitchen and dining space and is treated as two separate faces, defined by their context. Firstly, the external wall facing the driveway will feature a high-level timber-framed, clerestory window, referencing those elsewhere on the property with the walls clad in handmade, ceramic tiles, a regularly seen feature in modernist buildings of the period.

 

Secondly, on the inward-facing elevation overlooking the garden the existing roof fascia to the living wing provided a datum leading to a profiled rendered fascia making the transition from the existing east wing to the new replacement wing to the south of the plot. A replacement pergola will be reinstated and over sail this new elevated roof. Slatted timber screens offer a degree of privacy and solar shading to the more open elevation facing southeast.

 

This central infill extension will feature timber-framed, glazed doors opening out on the newly reconfigured patio to the garden elevation with the west. This sweeping form is to be formed in cast-in-situ pigmented concrete, taking it earthy tone from the existing brickwork. The roof features a circular roof light surrounded by a wildflower roof which may be extended in the future over the full extent of the living room wing.

 

Existing timber windows will be stripped back and refurbished to increase their life with the existing aluminium sliding doors to the living room is replaced with timber sliders to unify the fenestration to this one open-plan space.

 

The existing house experiences issues of solar gain and heat loss in equal measure which are to be addressed through a combination of the upgrading of the thermal insulation as well as the replacement of some outdated mechanically heating and cooling. These strategies seek to future-proof the property to enable it to respond to the rapid advancement of home heating/venting systems.

 

 

Project services being provided –

 

Feasibility Study

Outline Design

Obtain Planning / PD Consent

Obtain Building Control Approval

Detailed Design

Construction Drawings

Monitoring during Construction

Contract Administration

As-Built Drawings

 

Completion. September 2023
Images. DEDRAFT