Suburban Housing
Twelve family houses and nine apartments on a brownfield site for Baylight Property Services.
The design builds on the qualities of the site, an area bounded to the north and east by wooded railway embankments, amplifying and extending it into a green, informal setting that incorporates car parking and private amenity space. Within this landscape, clearings are formed in which 7 ‘villas’ containing 14 semi-detached homes are placed.
The villas are evenly distributed across the site and angled to the boundary edges and to one another in a loose arrangement reminiscent of a rural setting. Variations in building form, type and orientation, together with small, open car ports within the landscape, combine to create a rich and varied development.
The two houses within each villa are arranged side by side, along a stepped party wall. An enfilade of spaces is established at ground level, linking the entrance hall with the kitchen and living room. The increased floor-to-ceiling height of the living room creates a stepped section on the first floor, with bedrooms access at different levels.
Landings are open to the roof space and this collection of sectional adjustments and spatial sequences gives a surprisingly rich and complex character to these modest-sized dwellings. Each of the three different villa types has a unique character based upon its position and orientation.
All houses have generous windows that provide views of the communal landscape and gardens against the backdrop of the wooded embankments.
