Driftwood
Loughton, Essex

Overview
Our clients have a long history with this house, having brought up their family here before relocating to America for several years. On their return they realised they missed the open plan living of their Stateside home, the light it brought in and the connection to the outside.
We were asked to remodel the house to see them into their retirement, but whilst the house stood in a great location, the orientation was wrong and we quickly realised that to create a light and airy interior would mean remodelling the entire house, which made no sense financially. Thus we proposed a replacement house which gave us the design flexibility to create the home of their dreams.
Whilst we could not as such 'relocate' the house, we worked as best we could with the orientation, designing around a central axis with a huge roof lantern above that floods the space with light, and from where each of the main rooms flow; staircase, kitchen, dining, lounge and main bedroom.
Accessibility was key to provide longevity into older age, so the luxury master bedroom suite is located on the ground floor. The first floor has two large double bedrooms with en-suites and private terraces that look over a large expanse of living/green roof and the garden beyond.
We even stopped work on site and got 'wedding ready' for one of their children's marriage towards the end of the build!
- Dynamic architectural features for elevational design
- Strong connection to the garden landscape zones
- Timber cladding runs outside to inside hiding the ground floor toilet door
- Covered seating area to allow all weather outdoor dining
- Designed for later life living requirements
- Sunken seating zone
“When you walk in through the front door, you can see straight through to the garden with the big windows, and there’s the big skylight in the middle of the entrance, it’s just so different to the house we used to have here.
Even on a gloomy day, and there have been a few since we moved in, the house is so full of light.‘
- Kathleen Armstrong, Client
Detail
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Carbon impact
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