Issue 46 April 25 web - Flipbook - Page 89
A pair of matching bedrooms and a bathroom sit on the
second floor, whilst an atelier-like master suite occupies
the top floor. All rooms enjoy canopy views of the surrounding trees - Gleditsia, Robinia, and Horse Chestnut
- often through windows subtly altered in proportion by
dividing columns or lowered sills. New aluminium
windows were selected for their similarly slender profiles
to the pre-existing 1960s frames.
wash the stairway in natural light and provide passive
‘chimney effect’ cooling for summer, drawing cool air into
the house, and releasing warm air through the roof.
The clients briefed the use of raw materials to create a
visually light interior suited to the display of their art collection. Pricegore responded with unpainted lime-rendered walls for a natural off-white finish. The clay-pot
ribbed concrete slab soffits of the existing building have
been revealed and lime washed, whilst existing concrete
beams have been exposed and sand-blasted. Reclaimed
timber boards ground the upper floors of the house, whilst
richly stained joinery runs throughout the interior.
Bathrooms feature tadelakt walls and microcement floors.
Dingle Price, Director, Pricegore said;
We have seen this project as a test bed for developing our
knowledge and ideas on the restoration and modification
of modernist architecture. Many buildings of this era,
whether private houses, social housing, or universities, are
fundamentally well designed and robust, and for the first
sixty odd years of their life have served their purpose
remarkably well. However, many are now reaching the
stage where major renovation and adaptation is necessary
to prepare them for the next sixty years and beyond, in
terms of energy efficiency and durability, as well as varying
levels of spatial reconfiguration and extension. We have
worked to adapt several Georgian and Victorian era
buildings to twenty first century standards, but modernist
architecture requires some differences in approach, and
we have enjoyed developing our skillset in this regard on
this project as well as others currently in the design
development process.
The garden, spread over three levels including the roof of
the ground floor extension is the work of landscape
designer, FFLO, and includes a water feature designed to
soften the traffic noise of the surrounding city.
The building’s thermal performance has been radically
improved with external insulation to the existing roof,
breathable wood fibre insulation to the internal face of
the solid brick walls, new insulated ground slabs, and double glazing. An air source heat pump provides hot water
and underfloor heating. A mechanical ventilation heat
recovery system minimises heat loss in winter. A large
automated skylight has been added to the existing roof to
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