House with One Column
‘House with One Column’ is situated in the conservation centre of Faversham, Kent. The project is composed of visually expressing the monolithic, new concrete structure supporting the existing property above. At the same time, certain transparency is given to the rear of the property to create uncertainty between what is interior and exterior space.
Our brief was to renovate and extend the existing kitchen on the ground floor to create a better connection to the garden. In the conceptualisation stage of the extension, we experimented with the references of the local town Guildhall, being this bold structural gesture supporting the more private/permanent functional space above, while allowing an open, inviting connection to the void beneath. ‘House with One Column’ looks to engage with these same ideologies, by introducing a bold structural intervention signifying the support of the space above, yet at the same time defining the ground floor space beneath with a self-evident motif. The simple definitions of internal and external spaces become less obvious and fuse to allow the ground floor of the house to continue into the garden, and the garden to lead into the house – experimenting with the idea of blending the introverted court and extroverted garden, as part of a long tradition of domestic design.
‘House with One Column’ intended for a specific use, gave us the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the future direction of domestic design. The project explores a clear conceptual ideology, that structure = space = ornament. In doing so, the project aims to create a convincing balance between interior and exterior space.
