This site for this house, previously a set of modern milking barns, sits in the South Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Prior to the purchase of the site we advised our property developer client on the feasibility of gaining planning approval and inputted this into their business case for a new house.
The landscape surrounding Hungerford is interspersed with brick and clay houses, plus pockets of woodland between large rolling grain fields. The client was keen to follow the local material characteristics of brick, stone and clay tile to ensure the house would be a sympathetic fit within this patchwork of fields and woodland.
The house had a traditional H shaped plan, taking its proportions from traditional mid-Georgian architecture. We designed the internal layout around a central axis from the front door through the hall and drawing room to a stone portico to the views beyond. To the left of the axis the formal and traditional rooms - study and drawing room - are positioned and to the right, the modern open plan kitchen and utility and boot room.
We included traditional detailing into the scheme to bring a richness to the design, which included the rubbing of bricks to achieve canted brick arches above windows, a carved stone pediment to the entrance canopy, plaster cornice mouldings to suit the design of the drawing room and the timber stairs rising from the limestone hall floor with black cabochon.
Blake Architects prepared designs for all stages of the project, including bathrooms and the kitchen. We worked with the developers and quantity surveyors throughout the construction process to deliver the project on budget and time, administering the construction contract.
