Hartrow in Winchester, England by Strom Architects

Article source: Strom Architects

Hartrow is a large-scale refurbishment and extension project to a 1960’s house in Winchester. The original house was unusual in its residential street setting, presenting an entirely different aesthetic, orientation and layout to its neighbours. Part of the challenge was to ensure that the works would celebrate its mid-century styling whilst bringing its function and performance up to twenty-first century standards.

The dark cladded façade provides a dramatic contrast to the warmth inside the house, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

• Architects: Strom Architects
• Project: Hartrow
• Location: Winchester, England
• Photography: Martin Gardner

The family area at the bottom of the house opens fully to enjoy the garden, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

The house was split over several levels to suit the sloping site, with a drive and entrance hall to the street. Externally the driveway continued, running steeply alongside the house to the car port at the rear several levels lower; the living rooms and kitchen were located on the top floor. There was also self-contained accommodation and consulting rooms from the building’s previous incarnation as a doctor’s surgery. The arrangement of spaces no longer worked for modern life, and the multiple levels felt disconnected from one another and the site. The building fabric was in a bad state, suffering from damp, rotting cladding, extreme cold in Winter and over-heating in Summer.

Corner view showing the openness of the house, and the side access leading up to the driveway and parking area, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Night shot of the house from the garden. The dark painted wood cladding adds drama to the exterior, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

We rearranged the internal layout to fulfill the needs of a busy modern family. The unused carport was enclosed with sliding glazing and turned into a family room for cooking, playing, eating and relaxing. This created a relationship with the exterior, allowing the space to open up to the garden for summertime entertaining and supervised play-space for the children. A calmer ‘grown-up’ living room was located on the top floor taking advantage of views and providing a break from the informal family space on the bottom floor. Bedrooms, a TV room and a study are housed on the intermediate floors. We wanted the five split floors to feel connected, so we punched a void through the floor plates – giving views, stealing light and acting as a reference point on each floor.

The eye catching entrance at the top of the house, as seen from the driveway, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Side view of the entrance area – the garage is enclosed to the right, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

The building fabric was also updated to make the house more energy efficient and robust. Walls were stripped, over-clad with insulation and new timber cladding and render added. The roof was leaking and provided little insulation, but we were reluctant to entirely remove it; a prominent design feature of the original house was its exposed timber roof structure and balsawood ceiling. As such, the external felted finish was removed, insulation added and a crisp black zinc roof was added to provide a more durable and contemporary replacement. The internal balsawood was retained and carefully refurbished.

The family room ceiling is clad in larch, creating nice lines and a focal point of the artwork at the end of the table, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

The exposed wood of the original ceiling creates warmth and interest in the living room at the top of the house, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

These works were phased, since the clients had stated that they wanted to remain living in the house throughout the process. Having first been approached by them in Autumn 2010, we worked up our proposals based on a 2-phase build. We submitted for planning in December and gained permission in February 2011; the planning process had been smooth, with locals and planners welcoming the improvements. Construction details were progressed and the project was tendered in May 2011 under a traditional contract. The contractor was chosen in part because of his relatively small company, which gave the ‘personal touch’ needed for a live-in client, and the flexibility required by the phasing. Works started in January 2012 after lengthy discussions regarding cost reduction and phasing.

The living room accesses a balcony that enjoys fantastic views of the garden and countryside beyond, Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

The family room, kitchen and internal works to the lower and intermediate floors were carried out first, allowing the clients to live in the top of the house. The top floor, living room and external fabric was carried-out in the second phase – internal works during this second phase were purposefully minimal to reduce disruption.

Image Courtesy © Strom Architects

Despite the relatively superficial nature of the works carried-out, the design has succeeded in bringing this aging house into the twenty first century. Not only does the house now look more inviting, but its arrangement of spaces has completely changed how the owners can use their home and live in a manner that suits them and their family’s needs.

Image Courtesy © Strom Architects

Image Courtesy © Strom Architects

Tags: England, Winchester

Categories: House, Residential

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