Project Red, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire

This one-off house comprises a standalone replacement dwelling, separate studio building and extensive landscape works within the Green Belt and Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  Working through the challenging planning regulations the overall volume of the house was restricted by the allowable increase to the replaced 1920s house and surrounding outbuildings.

The house is composed of high quality traditional materials appropriate to the local context to create a contemporary form that balances the traditional and contemporary. The ground floor is made of thermally insulated composite blocks clad in knapped field flint. External spaces are created by the extension of these walls into the landscape where oak framed structures and large expanses of glass windows create strong indoor/outdoor spaces. The upper level is clad in timber finished in shou sugi ban, a Japanese technique of protecting timber with a charred finish, providing contrast to the stone below. Highly insulated timber and aluminium composite windows are carefully composed to enhance the views and provide privacy to the internal bedrooms. Solid oak sliding screens allow the occupant to reduce internal solar gains by actively shading internal spaces while changing the external appearance.

Internal spaces are organised to encourage visual connectivity to each other and the landscape. A bespoke feature staircase made of folded steel plates, cantilevers from a concealed structural frame clad in rich coloured timber slatted panels.