PROJECT REPORT: SELFBUILD & CUSTOM BUILD PROJECTS
BUILDING PROJECTS
WOODCOTE HOUSE, UPHAM
A new tradition
A new home in a secluded corner of Hampshire combines a highly contemporary form with traditional vernacular touches. James Parker speaks to one of the two architectural practices involved who managed to provide a design that worked for client and planners
N
estled in a secluded valley in the South Downs National Park is a strikingly modern house, whose contemporary design displays vernacular touches such as brick cladding, but also remains something of a coup for its designers. Planning permissions are rare in such a setting, however despite its crisp, rectilinear looks, the building made it through on appeal.
Located just north of the village of Upham, near Winchester, Woodcote House replaces a series of brick buildings that had fallen into disrepair, including Herdsman’s Cottage, the original dwelling. Work started in 2017 on a new four- bedroomed house, designed up to RIBA Stage 3 by Winchester practice Design Engine, with the completed design delivered by Paul Cashin Architects. Together with the small cottage, a garage and barn were demolished to make way for the new house, its footprint covering the combined square metrage of the buildings it replaces. The planning permission that got through at appeal also included a basement, which would have no visual impact, however this was not built in the end, as it wasn’t needed by the clients. The couple, involved in the agricultural heavy plant business, already owned the site and buildings, which sit “in the middle of nowhere,” says delivery architect Paul Cashin.
Photography © Richard Chivers
The derelict state of the existing buildings meant that it would not be cost effective to refurbish them. However, the push to create a low-profile but substantial, monolithic modern home – one which would fully
exploit the great views – was driven by the architects.
The clients contacted Design Engine, a well-known practice locally, having seen director Richard Rose-Casemore give a lecture, and asked him if the firm would be interested in taking on the project. However, with the firm normally specialising in larger schemes particularly in the education sector, and substantial overheads, they decided to offer it to former Design Engine architect Paul Cashin, who had formed his practice in 2012, to deliver the precisely detailed design. “I have a good relationship with them, we have collaborated on a number of projects,” he tells ADF. Avoiding the main contractor route in favour of a local builder and other subcontractors proved to be a bonus, with the building firm (Wickham-based Baker Newman) producing the goods in terms of attention to detail for a high-end finish. Cashin knew of them after they refurbished a townhouse for a friend, and thought “if this couple is willing to put their faith in a young architect maybe they’ll do the same with the builders.” He is full of praise for their work, also that they were “really flexible about the costs, and the programme.”
The original plan was for the builders to tackle the envelope, however after introducing them to the owners, “they ended up doing the whole project and did a great job.” They did it “on a kind of construction management, informal basis; a labour plus materials approach, and open book,” says Cashin.
ADF DECEMBER 2020
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