The site is currently occupied by two large 4 bedroomed detached dwellings. Re-Format was asked to design a unified collection of dwellings for the owner and his extended family.
We approached the design with the need to protect views into neighbouring properties and the aspiration to create a collective of dwellings, linked by a living street but organised around a series of more private courtyard gardens. The design uses the notion of ‘navigable’ rough stone walling to create the transition between public and private. Carved ‘wedges’ of sleeping accommodation bridge these thick walls, shaped particularly to reduce massing and scoop light in throughout the day. The northern elevations by contrast are lower in profile to allow light into the courtyards behind and reduce heat loss through the external walls.
