Park Lane

new sustainable replacement dwelling | Appleton, Oxfordshire

shortlisted for Best Individual New Home in 2017 LABC Building Excellence Awards

For over the five years our clients had been on a quest to find a site.  They had the ambition of building a sustainable modern dwelling.  Late in 2014, a tired 1960s bungalow in a leafy secluded part of the village became available.

The site was not without planning constraints; being right on the edge of the conservation area, the neighbouring historic cottage directly overlooking the front of the property, and the garden bisected by Greenbelt.  Planning permission was granted in mid-2015 after a challenging planning campaign.  The demolition of the old bungalow kick-started the 10-month build of a low-carbon timber-framed home.

The modern form is driven partly by context and inherent planning considerations and partly from the functionality of a sustainable house.

Almost as a palimpsest of a previous building, a ribbon of stone appears on the ground near the entrance.  Becoming a wall to the double-height hallway it directs the view through to the south-facing rear.  The Cotswold buff facing brick and unfinished timber cladding serves to visually anchor the house to its location.

Leaving behind comfortable, but dark, draughty, thatched stone cottages, our clients have truly embraced their warm, mechanically ventilated, ground source heated, modern and light-filled home.

Photography by Martin Gardner Photographer