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lower level. The Plane Tree dominates the courtyard, so in
summer it has a shade canopy, in winter, the house benefits
from full sun.
Despite its origins, the house is unconventional by
neighbourhood standards and devoid of ornament.
You’re right, there aren’t any frills and finials. Many people
say: “Oh I love the house. I want you to design me one, but
I don’t want the concrete walls.” My reply is this: “Well why
don’t you want concrete walls?” “Oh, because it’s concrete.”
I say: “Do you think you would have the same experience of
the house if it was a rendered wall?” They stop at that and
then they start thinking, because it’s all those materials and
how they’re detailed that brings this all together.
Is there a fear or trepidation about such an ambitious
level of glazing?
Glass isn’t any more expensive than standard walls, but
there is expense in the spanning steel structure that allows
such glazing. We try and create as much flexibility with
glass. We call them glass walls, sliding glass walls. They’re
not your everyday access doors but when opened up for
say a party, they are unclipped and those 3m x 2.4m glass
walls slide away. For every-day use there are smaller access
panels of around 2.4m x 1m. A glass such as ComfortPlusTM
means a