First Floor Plan
A feature American Black Walnut staircase wraps itself up through
the building, connecting the habitable spaces through its tree like
presence. Half landings, internal openings and unusual apertures
encourage the notion of creating internal courtyards of living spaces
that are all strongly connected to one another. At the top of the house
sits a roof top study for the client, over-looking the four storey central
staircase. At the bottom of the staircase the tree like form wraps itself
onto the ceiling of the basement rooms as the roots of the staircase in
plywood ribbons, thus connecting this vertical building thematically
as well as spatially.
The planning process was complex for this building due to the
sensitive nature of the site (building of townscape merit), leading to
months of negotiations with the local planning department eventually
agreeing with a limit in place to the height of the extension. The brick
cladding pays respect to the existing building, whilst be separated
away from the historic fabric of the building by a glass slice.
Section
The robust sustainability strategy for the building integrates an
MVHR system, internal thermal insulation lining, replacement double
glazed fenestration, air tight application and increased glazing to
beneļ¬t from passive solar gain. As such the existing