T
International project
North Vat
he form of the proposed cluster was derived from the locations of the existing
sheds and cottage, minimally adjusted to provide a simple living layout whilst
maintaining a low impact on the ground ecology and sustaining the sense of
randomness that the architects found in the original buildings.
Each of the three rooms is a separate physical structure linked to the other
two by frameless glazing. This allows an uninterrupted flow of internal spaces,
without diminishing the original cluster character. Walking in and out of the
rooms feels like walking in and out of the landscape.
Windows and roof lights were thought of as ‘paintings’. They have been arranged around
moments of pause within the plan to frame particular views and to track the movement
of sunlight which radically transforms the spaces during the day. At night, the black clad
building disappears and its presence is only revealed by these frames of interior life.
Siniša Rodić commented “The existing sheds and cottage were clad in black timber. We felt
that the site’s contribution to the larger scale assembly of black buildings and clusters was
important to retain. There is a sense of a bigger project taking place in Dungeness which we
felt we were contributing to. Our piece was about the inherent beauty of simple ‘elemental’
forms and how these can create complex spaces and experiences within a cluster. All
architectural clutter was removed in favour of creating an almost abstract form.”
by Hélène Binet
africandesignmagazine.com
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