Given its sensitive site, care was taken to ensure the proposal reflected the existing building fabric. The site was subject to much consultation with the planners and through a positive interaction with the council, a suitable solution was found and agreed to through their pre-application process. What was originally designed as apartments, local planning needs changed rapidly since the project’s conception and the final solution was for a set of sympathetic family homes.

As a result, three Arts & Crafts inspired homes sit comfortably on the triangular site - the site is bounded by 2 streets and housed a single large family home with ample grounds. Given the size of the plot, 3 medium sized family homes were easily accommodated. The slope of the site and angle of the roads were also used to ensure that the maximum potential of the site was achieved. The main view of the house is up a main road that forks: The most dominant house sits on this fork and addresses this vista directly whilst the remaining 2 houses are more modest in their proportions acknowledging not only the street scene, but also their immediate neighbours further up their respective streets.

Pan tiles, a local brick and rendered walls with gables, steeply sloping roofs and carefully proportioned windows follow the rules of Arts & Crafts homes. Where appropriate, large glazed windows and doors give to private garden areas so as to achieve modern needs of light and open-plan living. Lower ground floor or basement areas exploit the sloping nature of the site: This allows extra accommodation with natural light without increasing the height of the houses - especially in relation to their neighbours adjacent and opposite.

The name “Ashurst” was coined given the existing Ash Trees on site and their elevated nature. They are located to the very front or along the rear of the site, with a line of pollarded trees to one of the boundaries. We were able to keep these trees as part of the design and have actually added to the number of trees on site in order to maintain this suburban-village feel that is so cherished by local residents and the client alike.