RIBA East Midlands Awards 2017 – number one Westhill selected for shortlist
Stephen George + Partners are pleased to announce that number one Westhill has been shortlisted for the RIBA East Midlands Awards 2017.
The project is a domestic scheme of alterations and a ground floor extension to 1 Westhill Road, Leicester. It involved the demolition of an existing detached garage, utility room and conservatory.
The property is ‘locally-listed’ by the Local Authority. The site has two TPO Beech trees immediately off-site in the neighbouring property to the north.
The design brief required greater and improved family spaces, especially a new living space with a better relationship with the garden. There was also a need for improved ancillary accommodation to deal with the paraphernalia of a growing family. The response has been to contain these needs to the communal level of the ground floor with an expansion that heeds the principle of subservience in terms of scale, form and style, so as not to compromise the special character of the main house and the surrounding area.
This design approach manifests in the distinct contrast between the solidity of the existing house and the apparent lightness and transparency of the proposed single storey extension with flat roof, which is constructed with a large proportion of glass wall to the external envelope. The remainder of the proposal maintains the ethos of contemporary intervention.
A particular aspect of the project has been the care taken to respect the existing landscape and ecology. At the heart of this philosophy is the fulfilled desire to retain the existing Acer Campestre Field Maple deciduous tree at the centre of the garden, despite its close proximity to the buildings and the technical challenge to incorporate it into the design.
More information is available at: