"Atypical to a traditional mews, the designs are light and airy, with a high proportion of glazing to solid, carefully designed in combination with internal planning, to provide privacy in places and openness in others, to encourage a sense of community." Photograph by Robert and Jessica Barker "The project is finely balanced – there are common design features for economies of scale and procurement, and yet each house has it's own individuality and character," they added. "Each house is tailored to its position on the site, fashioned from the same building fabric, and gathered together using a common design thread," said Jessica and Robert Barker. "The sections were almost entirely informed by studying the daylight to its context and interiors." House 3 has the most private of the courtyards, which is placed on the west to ensure sunlight. The roof of its ground floor lounge has been chamfered so as not to block sunlight for a neighbouring garden. House 2 is the smallest of the blocks, but it still features three bedrooms arranged around a double-height atrium on its upper floor. House 1 – the architects' own home – is the largest of the three properties, and features a partial glass floor and a glossy red bath. Photograph by Robert and Jessica BarkerĮach of the three-bedroom houses share similarly patterned facades, created by strips of brickwork and double-height glazing, and have accents of bright colours on its bathrooms and utility rooms. This commercial flooring was chosen to reduce costs and, alongside blackened steel balustrades and railings, gives the spaces a utilitarian appearance. The flooring transitions to a dark to light resin at the foot of the stairs to denote the transition to bedrooms and bathrooms above. "The hard surfaces will be slowly tempered and softened as the climbers establish over the treillage covering the bricks," said the architects, adding that they planted the roofs with wild flowers and sedum to minimise the visual impact on overlooking neighbours.Įarthy-toned flooring is used throughout the interior of each block to create a sense of continuity between communal and more private space. Over time the pattern from the courtyard, which is based on the design of the couple's wedding rings, will grow over the faces of the buildings. Photograph by Robert and Jessica BarkerĬlimbing planting will be trained up the brickwork and along the mesh trellising that angles across the double-height windows. The shared courtyard is landscaped with a geometric pattern of resin-bound gravel and planting that echoes this pattern. Tall brick piers run across the front of these patios to mark the boundary between private and shared space and to continue the pattern of the facades. The architects also gave each residence its own private patio to maximise light on the land-locked site and to separate the living and working spaces within. "By providing each house with work space, a live-work community is created within the mews, connecting into the wider live-work community already established in Forest Hill." "The plans evolved to overcome this overlap of activities by separating the functions, providing dedicated spaces, whilst maintaining a visual link," they added. "The ambition was to create an inspiring place to live and work," said the architects, explaining how they often found themselves working around the dining table, so wanted to create a dedicated space within their new home. On the ground floor of each residence they created semi-private living and work spaces, which open onto the courtyard. The architects wanted to retain the "sense of a woodland clearing" on entering the mews, so positioned the three new blocks around its edge.
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