Intrinsic Simplicity
The continued success of eighteenth and nineteenth century terraced housing can be attributed to many things, not least familiarity and cultural acceptance. However, undeniably the intrinsic simplicity and flexibility of design is fundamental to their popularity and relevance. This proposal for a future townhouse looks directly to these antecedents, and seeks to apply some of the lessons that can be learned in a way appropriate to current regulations, aesthetics and technical and economic concerns. The design characteristics of Georgian and Victorian urban housing – and by turns of the proposal presented here - can be broadly considered in relation to the overall effect of the terrace on the public domain, and on the specific design of an individual townhouse. In relation to the townscape the proposal is intended to be successful as a single unit among existing housing, or to be used more or less uniformly across a new development. The scale and materials have been chosen to complement existing settings, integrating with established urban environments while also providing the opportunity for personalisation through colour and planting. Perhaps the most important aspect of the design in townscape terms is the sober commonality of approach to the street side elevations, in contrast to the more informal and ad-hoc rear aspects. This distinction is key to historic terraces where the public face forms the backdrop to civil life, while the interior and rear aspects offer a gradient of private, informal and fundamentally liveable spaces. The rear elevations offer scope to exhibit a wide variety of approaches in terms of both materials, and crucially scale and massing. Modifications to the rear elevations are inevitable and are natural developments over time that can be readily accommodated by the proposal. The mild and damp climate of the UK is ideal for green walls and kitchen gardens; the design celebrates this with opportunities for planting at ground and first floor level, providing privacy and adding colour. Residents have a sense of ownership over their home using the planters as small scale kitchen gardens. Similarly, the houses have clearly demarked elevational elements that can be painted according to the wishes of individual household owners, or community preference; part of the joy in many urban terraces is the subversion of commonality of form through colour. The elevational composition of the individual house has been carefully considered so that it can stand alone, with legible entrance, living space and secondary elements composed vertically up the facade. In multiplying the design the facades of one house start to ‘link through’ and ‘rhyme’ with their neighbours, so that semi-detached and fully terraced streetscapes have a continuity in elevation that can be further modulated through mirrored units, gap sites, flank elevations, and street planting in the same way as their eighteenth & nineteenth century antecedents. In layout and construction, the proposal looks to develop a way of thinking about the townhouse whereby a range of lifestyles can be accommodated in a single base building, with only minor structural alterations needed to radically transform the functionality of the house. The units are based entirely on the FutureForm system, resulting in a more efficient site set-up, less disruption to surrounding areas, easily synchronized deliveries to site, less waste and an overall reduced construction time. This simple construction method is in turn simple to modify; internal walls can be added easily and cheaply to modify living spaces. The home is expected to evolve as the needs of the inhabitants change; a range of options for simple future alterations is proposed, allowing the house to quickly adapt to changing family circumstances such as elderly relatives needing to move in, or the need for additional live-work space. In all cases, the generous living spaces, maximised storage space and energy performance make the home an attractive place to live. Water collection from the rooftop provides a supply of grey water for toilet flushing and watering plants. A water storage tank is integrated within the balcony wall at first floor level, while water butts are connected to the gutters on each rear roof terrace, providing water for use in the garden. In-built storage for recycling bins encourages residents to recycle a greater amount of household waste. The entire roof covering would be used to absorb solar energy, providing hot water all year round, while air source heat pumps would be used for all space heating. |
