Adrian Small, partner at Cowper Griffith Architects, discusses the design of this special home in North Norfolk.
The property is designed as an upside-down house with primary living spaces on the first floor to make the most of the sea views. Each first-floor pavilion has a vaulted ceiling and glazed gable ends.
The design is based on a trinity of elements, the three pavilions, three chimney stacks, organised within a classical proportioning system. Square shapes repeat throughout the design, with square windows, square flint panels, square door openings, etc. The front door, which was our recommendation to the client, is made up of two squares, one on top of the other. We’re impressed by the door’s structural integrity for security and resilience to the North Norfolk coastal weather.
Rising from the masonry plinth are three expressive chimneys, each splitting into three stacks. They are intended as strong sculptural objects that help connect the upper storey ‘pavilions’ to the brick lower storey. They are functional too, providing an open fire to the sitting room, a wood-burning stove to the study, and ventilation to the kitchen.
The house employs sustainable technologies, chiefly by avoiding heat loss through the highly insulated deep cavity walls and first-floor steel-framed pavilions, which are insulated with carbon-neutral wood fibre. The house is heated throughout via underfloor heating driven by an air source heat pump, which also heats the domestic hot water supply.”
Urban Front Door bespoke doors are made in Britain and can be commissioned in a range of different designs and materials – various hardwoods, bronze, and steel. They offer a free moodboard design service to help clients choose the right door for their home.
The door featured in the images is its Pivot Ridge in iroko finished in oil (1200mm by 2346mm) with matching side lights and a BZ5 handle.
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