Project: The Creek House
Located on the North Norfolk Heritage coastline and replacing a small timber chalet on a long, thin site that ends at the coastal path and small harbour of Brancaster Staithe, the site faces south onto a road with the garden and views to the north. The design creates two ‘houses’ set one behind the other, straddling a single storey service volume containing bathrooms and entrance. The front ‘house’ provides bedrooms, sheltered behind a small walled courtyard while living spaces are contained in the rear ‘house’. The houses are separated by a small entrance courtyard that allows south light into the otherwise north facing living spaces. An upper level living space – or ‘gloriette’ – enjoys harbour views. In the spirit of neighbouring holiday homes, the house is clad in western-red cedar save flint walls that encloses the courtyard. The concept for the house is based on a pair of traditional pitched roofed forms arranged one behind the other, resting on a single-storey base that runs along the western side of the site. The front part contains bedrooms, while the rear contains living spaces opening onto the garden. A central courtyard acts as an entrance court as well as allowing south light to enter the otherwise north facing living spaces. A small balcony to the rear at first floor offers garden views.
we provide a very carefully considered interpretation of the local building style and therefore extend the tradition of this North Norfolk coastal village.
As the house sits between two single-storey houses, JPA designed the front to sit at the same level as the rear garden, which means that from the roadside it is lowered into the existing ground level by some 0.5 metre while the eaves to the frontage is also lowered to provide a one and a half storey appearance onto the road. Ground floor masonry walls are in brick-edged flint, while the two storey elements are clad in natural cedar weatherboarding. Pitched roofs are slate incorporating hidden gutters. Although rigorous planning guidelines applied, the design does not try to mimic the local vernacular in a literal way as we believe that the result would be a pastiche which would devalue the authentic and debase the new. Rather
PROJECT DETAILS Client: Status: Contract value:
Confidential Completed 2011 £650,000.00
Structural Engineer: Contractor:
Barton Engineers Gorton Builders Ltd.