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130 The Beach Snettisham

Haverstock Associates, Norfolk, 2012

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View out through window seats

John Jenkins Download Original

This prefabricated 1950s beach house has been transformed to provide a contemporary holiday home

It is set on an unusual site on a spit of land facing the Wash in Norfolk. To the east are lakes; to the west is a sea defence bank where the sea on a high tide comes to within 10m of the house. In order to see above this bank, the living area has been raised, extended and cantilevered out.

The fragility of the existing prefabricated asbestos clad panel construction provided an engineering challenge where help was provided by Paul Owen Associates.

The materials are simple – a blend of birch faced ply and oak. Windows were supplied by Velfac. The only visible retained elements are the internal flush doors with their Bakelite handles. External walls and the roof are now well insulated. Power and lighting is provided by photovoltaics as there is no mains electricity. Heating is wood fired.