The house peeks over the original retained wall
© Anthony Coleman
© Anthony Coleman
had some experience, “I had no experience with renovations, but my daughter had just added a floor to her house.” Sophie, despite being a new mum, oversaw the building work on Jane’s site, being next door. To avoid mother-daughter disputes, Jane agreed Sophie would be pretty free to make decisions.
“The single thing above all that made it doable for me was my mum’s character,” explains Sophie. “She is both adventurous but also very understanding. I never for one moment worried that she would be angry or upset with me if I made a big mistake, so it allowed me to make all sorts of decisions with a kind of self- belief that people do not readily get from their bosses or clients.
I worked in television for a number of years, so lots of ‘spinning plates’ doesn't really worry me. Of course, there was the odd bit of bickering and the occasional disagreement, but we would take a straw poll where necessary! I had a bit of a vision once Barefoot (the architects) had realised their own, so I ploughed through with it!”
THE DESIGN
While many people will choose an architect based on case studies or even ideas, Jane and Sophie made it from a more original source. “My daughter met Sam (Goss, director at Barefoot), and as soon as he saw the little cobbled courtyard, his excitement became completely infectious, and she convinced me that this was the company to go with. We were very keen for the property to be eco-friendly, and that was key when we were finding an architect,” adds Jane. “The initial brief for the project was to convert and extend the 1.5 storey old garage on the site,” explains project architect Martina
30
www.sbhonline.co.uk
Goluchová. But the size,
shape and location of the existing building didn't lend itself well to a dwelling. “We proposed a new build courtyard house, and Jane was up for it straightaway.” Being a brownfield site, there were plenty of challenges that went beyond its unusual shape – not least the significant foundations, which were formed by 15 concrete piles 10 metres deep and a 250 mm concrete raft slab. This was because of the proximity of large trees and the poor ground conditions in the area.
Jane describes it as her only low moment in the build. “We had to dig 10 metres into the ground because St Werburghs is basically built on sand. A lot of the project cost went to the extravagant measures we had to undertake, most frustrating since all the other houses in the neighbourhood have stood for 100 years on one-metre deep foundations!” The interior layout – around 82 m2
in total –
has been designed around the client’s limited mobility and includes a dining kitchen, with the main bedroom and a small living room at each end of the L-shape. Stairs provide access to a second bedroom and a roof terrace, which sits under a big plane tree that had to be accommodated into the design, and with open views along the street and across a nearby park. The house is timber frame construction, clad in Corten weathered steel, which rises up above the brick boundary wall and descends down into the courtyard.
This Corten-clad wall was the biggest extravagance. “We agonised over it, being the one single item which could push us over the limit,” admits Jane. ”But when we suggested dropping the Corten steel and reverting to brick, we were moved by the expression of sorrow on
jan/feb 2022
ABOVE
The richly coloured Corten cladding co-ordinates with the brick of the Edwardian terrace it sits at the end of
HIGH POINT
“The Corten steel wall – expensive, but worth it. ‘We simply made other reductions, and I have no regrets.”
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