Groupwork
Barretts
Grove
Barretts Grove is an archetypal Victorian
street of two storey brick terraced houses
later interrupted by detached apartment
buildings, a tall red gabled LCC school and
rubble walled church. The new addition sits
amongst these later stand alone structures.
If the overall building form is intended to
help complete the parade, it and its detailing
is also architectonically driven by a choice
of superstructure suited to residential use
then developed to a smaller domestic and
tactile scale. The tall red brick gable facing
the street echoes those of the LCC school and
is formed in plan by a 1 bedroom apartment
with a second smaller block engaged at
the rear to create the second 2 bedroom plan. The
double stacked and open bond of brickwork states
the envelope is not load bearing (of superstructure)
but a screen enveloping the whole building
including the roof. That is set out with an unbroken
grid of large window and door openings to maintain
the strength of form despite its slenderness.
Wicker woven steel balconies are hung from every
other aperture softening that material palette. These
are large enough for dining and are alternated to
allow neighbours the opportunity to develop the
limited social space above and below them when
communal gardens are not available. For similar
reasons the front door is an extruded version of the
bronzed window reveals, becoming a port-cochere
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