Light-Touch Studio

It was designed in 1899, the same year Ebenezer Howard formed the Garden City Association, an enabling organisation within the Garden City Movement. Today, the house and its garden have come to epitomise the movement’s idea of a healthy, well-balanced and self-sufficient living on a small scale. The site survived essentially unchanged into the 21st century, predominantly thanks to its Listing, although, by the time SPA was first appointed, it had become fairly dilapidated and the garden overgrown, having been briefly occupied by squatters. This compact project is the culmination of SPA’s long involvement in the property's restoration, retrofitting, and subtle reworking. As working from home became a possibility for many, SPA was asked to investigate the possibility of adding a studio in the curtilage of the listed house. A far corner of the garden was chosen, where its gently sloping gradient forms the site’s lowest point, bordering some allotments. The proposal was for a low building topped with a green roof. The only views from within are over the garden itself. Such low impact on the listed house and its neighbours won the listed and planning permissions. The design is for a light-touch, low-carbon building, minimising excavations and use of concrete with timber frame with larch cladding floating above the drained, water-collecting void and supported off screw-piles. The brick-paved step, shaded over by the generous roof canopy, grounds the structure into the landscape. Expressive corner cladding and brickwork details tie the design back to the listed house. Timber-particle insulation, lime plaster and thermally-broken glazing complete the small palette of materials while high levels of insulation and airtightness keep the place warm and well-ventilated year-round with just one electric radiator and single room MVHR.