nj-architects were commissioned to create a new family home in the East Riding of Yorkshire on the edge of the Skidby Conservation area, replacing a previous design.
The schemes straddles the opportunities and social life that the village can offer with the beauty and tranquility of the open countryside.
As with all of our work, we enjoy exploiting the things that nature provides for free – views, the sun, shelter from the wind – and combine this with the use of clean forms and natural materials that will give buildings a timeless feel ensuring they will look as good in twenty-five years as they would today.
The design strategy takes advantage of the far reaching views and relative seclusion of the site by creating a series of semi and private external spaces, over which views are attributed to the hierarchy of rooms within.
The house is surrounded by natural landscape and is oriented so all the rooms enjoy views across the open countryside and away from neighbouring dwellings. Its first floor level with family living space and 4 bedrooms, the master bedroom balcony with views to the open countryside and beyond, is arranged with ancillary accommodation as a buffer to the neighbouring dwellings to the east. The position of the new house is set back sensitively from neighbouring buildings, allowing mature trees to be retained and enhancing its peaceful setting.
A path leads directly to the front door and into the triple height entrance hall which forms the hub of the house. The family kitchen, living, dining space is beyond with a family living room, office and workshop. Large sliding glass doors dissolve the boundary between inside and outside with external stone paving extending into the landscaped garden.These details ensure that the family can engage with nature at every possible opportunity throughout the seasons.
A set of stairs leads up to a further family room which capitalises upon its elevated position with large expanses of glazing and south facing terrace.
The scheme seeks to create a new building which, although proudly contemporary, is respectful of the local areas typologies and is explicitly domestic in scale and language. Material references for the house reflect its natural setting. Buff brickwork and render contrast with the dark elements of the envelope – dark grey slate roofing, zinc cladding and dark stained timber, bring additional texture and contrast to the grey/cream of the exterior fac¸ade. The character of the materials as both monolithic and delicate gives the building a quiet confidence which connects with the grain of the site.
The house designed to be naturally ventilated and well insulated.
Embedded in a unique, rural-like setting, the new house manages to be at once protective and open.
Completed 2020
