High-quality homes designed in the Arts and Crafts period style.
Brief
The client brief stipulated that the character of the development should specifically reference the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens (probably the foremost exponent of the Arts and Crafts period in English architecture). The work of Lutyens and his contemporaries is particularly prevalent in Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, where they drew upon the influence of traditional styles of rural house design that had evolved over many centuries.
The development greatly enhanced a site previously dominated by the decaying glass houses of a former nursery.
Project Challenges
Located on the site of a redundant former nursery, occupied by numerous derelict glasshouses, the project offered considerable opportunity for enhancement of the sensitive semi-rural setting.
The scheme was extensively praised for its design by the local planning department and its Planning Committee. The house designs reflect the key characteristics of the Arts and Crafts movement; steeply pitched tiled roofs with sweeping gables; tall, richly corbelled red brick chimneys, and first floor windows tucked under generous eaves. Both the hard and soft landscaping is commensurate in its quality with the architectural design and is intended to harmonise with the natural surroundings.
In addition to providing much needed new homes of mixed sizes (including two affordable homes), the development greatly enhanced a site previously dominated by the decaying glass houses of a former nursery.
“Williams Lester worked incredibly hard to put our vision of a Lutyens style estate into reality, and the outcome was magnificent.”
WLA’s professional service involved intensive examination and justification of the scheme design, which was approved despite being counter to planning policy. The application design was required to demonstrate a substantial reduction in built form from the existing glasshouses and to offer a material improvement in visual impact when viewed from the adjacent AONB. The completed project also provides significant ecological benefits through wildlife mitigation and extensive planting of indigenous trees.
Our appointment included high-quality CGI visualisations, including an animation in support of the planning and marketing stages of the project.
Following the projects conclusion, we were delighted to receive the following client testimonial:
“Williams Lester worked incredibly hard to put our vision of a Lutyens style estate into reality, and the outcome was magnificent. The technical support and responsiveness of the team was excellent, making the lives of those on site far easier than many other complicated builds I have been involved in. I would thoroughly recommend this innovative practice and hope to do future projects together in the near future.”
