The brief for the architect designing Chapa was for a modern house that would be fully accessible for a wheelchair bound invalid on an L- shaped plot, which, with the exception of main road frontage, was completely enclosed by five other buildings. Because the adjacent buildings had suspect foundations a steel frame structure was specified to avoid the disturbance that would be caused by traditional construction with strip foundations. This determined the visual language of the new house: the black steel frame visible externally and internally, with the wood providing a warm natural contrast. Highway regulations required the garage doors to be one car’s length back from the kerb, with visibility splays for safe driving off site. Another design requisite was that a car had to be able to turn round fully on site. The result is that almost all the ground floor is devoted to a garage with parking and a turning bay- with just enough room for a third bedroom and bathroom and a wheelchair lift. The main bedroom is therefore upstairs, with a master bedroom and ensuite bathroom, a second bedroom and bathroom with an L-shaped living area with an open-plan kitchen. For convenience, the round tower on the corner of the house provides somewhere to on each floor to leave or turn the wheelchair. For what is effectively a back-to-back terrace house with no front garden the house is amazingly light and totally practical. Photography: Alan Williams (0207357 9336) |
