Brown House Lane

Forest Row, East Sussex
2018 - Ongoing

Our brief was for five houses that would have minimal impact on the landscape, make the most of the compact site and have high sustainability credentials. With such proposals we are promoting a more relevant response to the complex demands on 21st century house design: home working, the need for long term flexibility in accommodation and more complex forms of cohabitation. Volume house builders in the UK have tended to have a tendency to be unresponsive to these social changes.

The four two storey houses have split levels to accommodate the natural fall of the ground and reduce the visual impact to the existing houses in Hatch End. The plan form creates a small private courtyard to each unit with a first floor terrace to the master bedroom that also forms a carport. The living rooms are double aspect and are arranged around a high efficiency heat source as a focal point. The fifth unit at the southern end is single storey to avoid any overlooking of the bottom of the very long rear gardens to Highgate End and Viewswood. The drivers for the concept are; creation of positive communal space, avoidance of overlooking (of each other and surrounding houses) and flexibility in the use of internal space (future proofing).

This scheme is currently awaiting planning approval.

Design Team: Nic Pople, Muneeb Ali Khan, Sophie Woodhatch

  • 00 327 Model
  • 01 327 site context
  • 04 327 ground floor plan
  • 05 327 first floor plan
  • 06 327 long sections
  • 07 327 East & West Elevations
  • 08 327 North & South Elevations