We were asked to advise on developing a plot land behind a hotel. Challenges were presented by the steep site, limited access, and the sensitive setting of both being in a conservation area and adjacent to a historic building. The design aspirations were to create three high specification, contemporary, sustainable buildings fit for 21st Century living, but sensitive to the local context and architecture. In this conservative area, the building forms chosen are traditional in character, but the materials proposed, and detailing of the buildings will be more contemporary. A new access road extends to a shared courtyard, attractively landscaped, and designed to encourage communal interaction between the owners. With the courtyard and parking contained at the ‘top’ of the site facing the rear of the hotel, the houses open out to their gardens and the views, and address the challenges of the steep slope of the site. The two larger houses step down internally with the landscape they are set in, to create a sequence of internal spaces with different heights and characters. At the lower elevations of the site this stepping down allows an upper and lower storey, without having to raise the overall eaves height. Terraces at the back of each house take advantage of the fantastic views to the North.
