Column 01

Column is the newsletter of 31/44 Architects

07/2013

It includes work and opinion from our studios, friends, colleagues and collaborators.

Volume 01 Issue 01

NL/GB

3144architects.com

Wenslauerstraat 59 1053 AW Amsterdam The Netherlands T/ +31 (0) 6 39 84 20 10

Arthur’s Mission 30 Snowsfields London SE1 3SU United Kingdom T/ +44 (0) 20 7596 6625

Amsterdam@ 3144architects.com

London@ 3144architects.com

COLUMN

31/44 Architects

Column adds structure to our practice and supports opinion

Welcome to the first issue of Column, the newsletter of 31/44 Architects. The intention of Column is to further articulate our studio practice, engage with collaborators, encourage reflection on the complicated process of design and building and communicate what we offer to our clients.

Alongside our professional practice, we teach. This necessitates the constant research of ideas and proposals. We are required to understand the ‘how and why’ of the building industry and communicate our thoughts and opinions to our students. It is this discipline that we hope Column will bring to our daily practice. In preparing this issue, we have found that ideas and themes have been uncovered, discussed and consolidated.

We reserve time to reflect upon our work and refine our approach for what comes next.

Column, like our practice, aims to be sociable, accessible and communicative of our ideas and interests. We acknowledge that not all ‘worthwhile’ conversations come from the studio environment. We enjoy placing ourselves outside the working situation and believe some of the best ideas have been developed whilst socialising with clients, friends, colleagues and collaborators.

We don’t believe successful projects arise from just one voice and for that reason we will include additional viewpoints in our newsletter. We hope that these contributions will be diverse.

We include in this issue, as our first independent viewpoint, the photographs of Roberta Ridolfi.

31/44 Architects LLP

We are an RIBA Chartered architecture and design practice established in London and Amsterdam by William Burges and James Jeffries. We have a team of talented architects with diverse and considerable experience in projects of all sizes and work stages, from individual buildings to large scale urban masterplanning works.

We believe that the process of design is not only creative and thoughtful, but also inclusive. Clients, be that developers or private individuals, along with those constructing the building, are included in this iterative process.

We deliver serious architectural solutions that are cost-effective but always endeavour to make the process enjoyable.

31/44 Architects

NL/GB

3144architects.com

Wenslauerstraat 59 1053 AW Amsterdam The Netherlands T/ +31 (0) 6 39 84 20 10

Arthur’s Mission 30 Snowsfields London SE1 3SU United Kingdom T/ +44 (0) 20 7596 6625

Amsterdam@ 3144architects.com

London@ 3144architects.com

From Strategy to Detail Making a piece of ‘city’

Our projects never begin life as buildings. Whilst that is, of course, the end result, our starting point is always to produce a responsible piece of city. For us, the word ‘city’ is broad. It may be a network of streets, squares and parks enclosed by buildings or fields, lanes, hedgerows and woods that are instead shaped by farming and rural activity.

We are fortunate that the cities we work within are varied – historic city centres, the suburban periphery, emerging regenerated neighbourhoods, ancient villages and open protected countryside. This structured ‘city’ is always our starting point.

The partners of 31/44 all grew up in the countryside and have since moved to the city. We appreciate, respect and hope to understand both of these conditions.

When we begin new projects, we are set with the challenge to create space – from the intensity of a city to the delicacy of a landscape. We begin with a room (often an outdoor room) and consider how we best begin to form space.

Moving outwards from these spaces, we find that through the process of refining design iterations, we begin to make a building. As the process moves forwards, these buildings begin to belong to their surroundings, finding a home amongst the streets and squares or the fields and hedgerows.

Recently the spaces we have been involved with have varied from a series of speculative apartments in a chaotic corner of London; a grand historic apartment in a listed building on a tranquil, formal garden square; an equestrian courtyard in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a new village green within an undefined commuter village in the south-east of England.

This issue of Column focuses on two of our current projects.

Located in contrasting settings and producing distinctively different outcomes – a proposal for two new houses in a Conservation Area in south London and a new equestrian facility in the open countryside in Surrey.

If you are receiving this issue and would like to join in the discussion, please get in touch. Our contact details are on the opposite page.

Photograph by Roberta Ridolfi

Houses in London

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We were commissioned to design two new three-bedroom homes in south London by an architect with a distinguished career in sustainable design and construction. The homes strive for high environmental standards (Passivhaus) whilst responding to their Conservation Area context. Our design had to balance the stringent criteria of the environmental standards as well as creating a high-quality architectural response to the historic context.

The site is a corner plot of land that was bomb damaged during WWII. Once cleared, the end terrace dwelling was never replaced and is currently a row of dilapidated, disused garages. Planted within the pavement adjacent to the site are two trees. These trees direct the positioning of the mass (and open space) within the site, in order to conserve their health and maintain their significant contribution to the streetscape. Each house, although connected through material and detail, is a particular response to its specific situation.

The detailed design of the two houses became a careful balance of the composition of the external form and the delivery of interesting internal and external living spaces.

(The houses will be offered for sale on completion.)

The two houses have very different demands placed upon them by the existing city fabric. The corner dwelling is obliged to complete the formal Victorian terrace whilst the lower house adjusts in scale and massing to relate to neighbouring mid-twentieth century housing of a very different character.

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The corner house reinstates the mass of the dwelling that once stood here. A formal street elevation with window openings and a projecting bay references and completes the existing continuous Victorian elevation. As this dwelling turns the corner, the side gable remains square with punched openings that reflect the Georgian gable at the opposite end of this secondary side street. The rear of the dwelling has an informal language of infill and off-shoots responding to the demands of the layout, much like its existing neighbours.

However, internally, the plan is allowed to peel apart, creating a sequence of spaces and rooms that is much less conventional. Traditionally, the rear off-shoot would have provided secondary service spaces. Instead we have placed these spaces against the party wall allowing the rear of the dwelling to become a split-level living and kitchen space that opens directly to the garden.

The lower house is also a response to the history of the site.

This section of the site was historically used as a stable yard, housing horses that moved coal from a neighbouring railway yard to various parts of south London. From historic maps, it seems that these stables were an informal accumulation of sheds that were built and modified over time. In reference to this, the house has a more ad-hoc feel, as if it is a conversion of smaller industrial buildings, with the spaces arranged in three stepping masses. At its centre is a small south-facing courtyard with an external fireplace creating an additional room. An existing tree is used to provide seasonal shading and prevent excessive solar gain to the courtyard.

Living spaces radiate around this external room with the kitchen and dining area providing a direct connection to a more conventional back garden. As with the corner house, a fireplace sits at a change in level – in both instances providing a physical and visual heart to the living spaces. The splitlevels help to control the mass of the dwelling to the street whilst also delivering sufficient quality space to meet the demands of a family home.

The completed composition of the two houses creates an arrangement that is common to such planned areas in London – where primary street-facing elevations have a formal quality, but within the depths of the block, on secondary side streets, there are industrial mews with informal buildings or workshops. The latter formed of small structures built and adapted over time.

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Elevation detail Interior corner house Elevation Corner house view Second floor plan First floor plan Ground floor plan Lower house Site plan Lower house view

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Equestrian Facility in Surrey

This project involved the extension and renovation of an existing inter-war house, the creation of a new domestic landscape to include a swimming pool, the design of a series of new stable buildings and a dressage school. The property is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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Our approach began with an evaluation of the existing relationship between house and landscape, and the desire to create two ‘external rooms’ – a domestic kitchen garden and an equestrian courtyard. The reconfiguration of the existing house began to suggest a structure for the first of these ‘rooms’ with the new swimming pool and kitchen garden located to relate to the internal living spaces. The pool and garden are connected and enclosed by a loggia which defines the edge of the cultivated landscape as it meets the ‘wild’ meadow.

The loggia of the kitchen garden connects to a traditional cat-slide roof form which rises to enclose a new hay and vehicle barn. This asymmetric form anchors the two new external rooms articulating the shift in scale and activity from large horses and vehicles to the intimacy of the carefully tended domestic garden.

The stable buildings are constructed from coarse timber boarding and in-situ concrete. The straightforward details sit in contrast to the more refined pigmented concrete and hardwood structures used to form the domestic landscape spaces. The materials are arranged in horizontal bands visually stitching the long low stables into the landscape – a composition of long ridges of dark trees and hedgerows read against the rolling chalk meadows.

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Site plan Meadow view to existing house and new barn Stable view to dressage school Kitchen garden Section through ‘external rooms’ View from lower meadow to new barn and stables View of stables View from new pool to meadow and new barn Stable courtyard view over water trough Ground floor layout

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Viewpoint: Roberta Ridolfi

We see Roberta’s revealing photographs as a counterpoint to conventional architectural photography and images which tend to exclude real life, ordinary possessions and the mundane.

Roberta’s photographs manage to capture the intimacy of habitation found in both internal and external spaces.

To contact Roberta or see more of her work, visit her website: www.robertaridolfi.com

Current Projects

Interiors in Old Street Masterplan in Surrey

After developing the initial concept designs for this management suite and private gym in east London, we were appointed to provide detailed construction and specification information.

A residential masterplan for 242 new dwellings in Surrey.

The content of the masterplan was designed to be flexible – it defines a series of plots within which the detailed size and tenure of the dwelling could be altered and tested against local market conditions.

Currently on–site.

This approach allowed our client to carry out early financial modelling of the development without having to commit a large amount of fee for abortive design work.

Apartments in London

Mixed-use scheme in Kent

We were commissioned to extend this existing two-storey building providing six new dwellings and a refurbished commercial space. We developed a project-specific strategy for reducing both construction costs and the disruption to ground floor use during the building period. Currently in planning.

We are currently developing designs for a new-build mixed-use development in Rochester that includes residential, retail and public space. The scheme is currently in the preliminary design stage and we are in negotiation with the local planning authority to help ensure that a co-ordinated public realm is achieved.

House in London

House in Guildford

The brief for this scheme was to vertically extend an existing single-storey dwelling to form a modern five-bedroom family home. Due to budgetary constraints, 31/44 propose using lightweight construction methods in order to avoid the need for structural work to the existing 1930s bungalow.

31/44 were commissioned to extend and refurbish this locally listed house which sits within the Guildford Town Centre Conservation Area. Following extensive negotiation with the planners, consent was given to drastically improve and extend the ground floor living spaces. Large-scale structural work in the lower ground floor is nearing completion and construction of the new garden room is scheduled to begin.

Currently in planning.

Lobby and gym in Southwark Having built up a strong working relationship with our client following our commission ‘Interiors in Old Street’ we were invited to design these two spaces for their next development in Southwark.

We are currently proving detailed construction and specification information and developing bespoke light fittings and furniture for the scheme.

Apartment in central London Located within a Listed Building on a prime London garden square, this project involves the complete reworking of a grand apartment to provide extra space for our client’s extensive collection of furniture, books and art.

House in Amsterdam We are currently designing a new-build house in the centre of Amsterdam. The house will replace a dilapidated worker’s cottage and create a contemporary, energy-efficient family dwelling.

Alongside a local Dutch contractor, BALQ bv, we have developed a strategy for reducing the energy

The original apartment in this Thomas Cubitt house consists of four beautifully proportioned rooms which have been restored and renovated. A hundred years’ worth of paint and varnish has been stripped back to reveal intricate corniced ceilings, dado rails and parquet floors.

Phase one of the two-phase construction work is now complete.

load of the house throughout its lifecycle. Much of the construction will be prefabricated off-site using lightweight, steel-framed structural wall panels.

This method has been chosen in order to reduce costs through a shortened construction time, reduced structural loading whilst ensuring a high quality of building fabric.

The project is due for completion in Spring 2014.

House in Surrey 31/44 gained planning consent for a new-build house in a wood in Surrey. The house is a much-enlarged replacement of an existing dwelling sited within the Green Belt adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Achieving consent required careful negotiations with the local planning authority.

Apartment buildings in Battersea

Masterplan in south-east England

31/44 completed this feasibility study for a complex site in south-west London. The proposal delivered a significant amount of commercial space including external sales areas with 70 apartments on the upper floors (a variety of one- and two-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom maisonettes).

The design responds to difficult access conditions and the complex arrangement of neighbouring residents.

We have been appointed to prepare a masterplan study for a new development of approximately 240 new homes, a community hall, a health centre and a school.

Made/Found is the blog of 31/44 Architects

Studio 2.2: 2013

Continually updated, it includes things we have been part of making and things that we have just seen and enjoyed.

Great end of year show at Kingston University. We’re very pleased with our studio’s contribution.

Reading Bench

NGS Dulwich

We are currently designing a reading bench for use in one of our projects.

Sample Panel We’ve been assembling some materials for a high specification apartment in central London.

Tram remise de hallen

As part of the National Gardens Scheme, we visited this lovely garden in Dulwich by Christopher Bradley-Hole.

Open house photograph of the tram depot in Amsterdam before the construction works began.

House in Amsterdam Some site progress photographs of one of our Dutch projects. A house renovation in Amsterdam’s historic city centre.

Parquet Colours Selecting parquet colours for the renovation of a historic apartment in central London.

Website Launch We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new website: www.3144architects.com

Amsterdam Facade Model Alex has been busy in the workshop with the laser cutter.

Steve’s house... Styled by @sewilarual!

Steve (of 31/44) and Laura’s house was published in The Guardian following their development of an affordable, design-driven home in south London.

We understand its next media appearance may be on the BBC... and then to Grand Designs magazine.

De Groene Paal We are in discussion with BALQ bv about integrating a ground source heatpump system into a new-build house in the centre of Amsterdam. www.degroenepaal.nl

Pae White at South London Gallery Spring highlight.

31/44 Architects

Lighting

On site in Battersea

We’ve been developing the designs for some light fittings to use within a number of our interiors projects.

Site progress at our extension and refurbishment of a large house in Battersea.

NL/GB

3144architects.com

Wenslauerstraat 59 1053 AW Amsterdam The Netherlands T/ +31 (0) 6 39 84 20 10

Arthur’s Mission 30 Snowsfields London SE1 3SU United Kingdom T/ +44 (0) 20 7596 6625

Amsterdam@ 3144architects.com

London@ 3144architects.com