11 THE AVENUE _ HAMPSHIRE

BACKGROUND
The brief was to extend a detached Arts and Crafts-era villa within a Hampshire Conservation Area. The design developed was for a substantial side extension intended to sit harmoniously within the streetscape of the historic quarter of a Hampshire village – at once contemporary and contextually sensitive. Additionally a rear extension was proposed that could mediate in scale and character between the relatively grand existing rear elevation and a private garden setting. To this end the notion of a Victorian glasshouse was developed suggesting a humble, utilitarian form set in counterpoint with a formal villa typology with substantial extents of glazing held within a modular timber framework.

DESIGN APPROACH
The project for the side extension to the existing house consists of a carefully crafted brick facade that sits harmoniously within the setting of Petersfield Conservation Area. The entirely brick formed elevation utilises various coursing techniques and devices to add richness and variety to the facade, commensurate with the crafted quality of villa-type dwellings in the local area. New elevations are treated in stack bond coursing derived in form and arrangement from the vertically hung tiles of the existing house – in both instances the exterior clay finish is non- loadbearing. To give texture and shadowing to the contemporary facade the bricks are laid in an alternating pattern of flush and projecting brickwork. The effect of this is to create a textured surface treatment animated by the play of light and shadow in a manner that is in harmony with the adjacent cladding in hung terracotta.

LANGUAGE AND CHARACTER
The challenge was to make a relatively large new piece of building expressed as being distinct from the host building yet creating sufficient connection to the familiar forms and language of the context such that the extension would sit into the background of this context. The notion of ‘new’ contrasting with ‘old’ was dismissed in favour of a more nuanced approach. As experienced the extension does not announce itself boldly within the streetscape rather appears within it with silent stealth.

COMPONENTS AND DETAILS
The ground floor includes a large projecting window that mirrors the principle of the bay window to the 1903 host building.
The upper storey of the existing building is tiled in an Arts and Crafts manner using hung terracotta tiles shaped at the lower edge forming a prominent overhang to the coursed brick below. In response the upper storeys of the new façade extend out to meet the ground floor window creating a prominent shadow line across the full elevation. Rather than mimic the tiled upper storeys the new building is treated with stepped patterned brickwork. This gives it a solid, monolithic and sculptural form yet one that yields and adjusts in response to the host building. An overhanging dry verge detail utilizing mortar-filled clay tiles and a thick mortar bed between stepped bricks and creasing tiles add subtly crafted details to the uppermost portion of the façade.
To the rear the extension is formed in home-grown Douglas Fir with a black oiled finish and black anodized flashings giving a bold yet highly crafted character in counterpoint to the terracotta facades of the host building.

DETAILING
The stepped façade and open brickwork patterning was achieved with a cantilevered steel armature supporting the two upper storeys of brickwork with further offsetting of structure at ground floor to bring the façade load to ground while maintaining clear openings for the large window and adjacent perforated brick screen. Privacy screens at ground and first floor are formed in brick held within a stainless steel frame. These perforated screens allow for opening windows set behind and filter daylight to the interior space, adding texture to the natural light.

INTERIORS
Wire-cut bricks from a Hamphsire farmstead were reclaimed for use within the interiors and laid over an insulated concrete slab with underfloor heating. The bricks were selected for their thermal qualities, retaining heat in the winter months and cooling the space in the summer. This also creates a richly textured floor plane that unifies the interior spaces while contributing to the acoustic quality. White glazed bricks line the entire interior of the new kitchen while elevations of the existing house are exposed internally, giving new interiors the character of an outdoor space.