Surface Design Awards – Complete

• HOUSING - EXTERIOR
  Buildings such as houses, flats and apartments that are used for sheltering people. These could be either part of the private or public sector and could be individual dwellings or multi-dwelling developments. Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market are included.
• LIGHT + SURFACE - EXTERIOR 
  The innovative use of light and the way it is inextricably linked to surfaces, whether it’s the effect the light has on the surrounding surfaces or the materials used to create the light. 

Cambridge Cottage occupies a steeply sloping site in a prominent position within a conservation area looking north over the Solent in Cowes, Isle of Wight. The triangular site has a south-to-north fall of 10 metres and is close to the 18th century Trinity Church.

Previous planning permission did not make the best use of the primary attraction of the site - the northward views over the Solent. The Manser Practice designed a new scheme to address this issue, creating a carefully detailed three-bedroom house which makes the most of fantastic seaward views from its top-floor ‘pavilion’ designed for easy living and entertaining guests.
The house’s main living space (living, dining, kitchen, pantry, study and WC) is at the very top of the site close to the southern boundary and the adjacent Baring Road. To maintain privacy, and to avoid solar gain, the charcoal brick south elevation has small vertical windows into the living space with fixed Portland stone louvres, referencing the louvres in the adjacent bell tower. This allows diffused sunlight into the building. An offset brick entrance lobby is set into this south elevation and the whole building at this level with a large north-facing terrace addressing the view is topped with a steel-edged sedum-planted flat roof cantilevered to provide further shading. The north elevation is fully glazed with slim, aluminium framed, double-glazed full-height windows and sliding doors.

The southern boundary to the site, ten metres below the ground floor, is the point of access for cars and the location of the double-height garage, boat store and workshop space. Between this and the ground floor, with its southern side buried in the hill, is a bedroom floor with associated bathrooms. Ground floor to lower ground floor is via a sculptural spiral staircase which gives way to a wide shallow straight flight from there down to the garage and back door.

Linking all these spaces externally are a richly planted series of terraces offset by interlinking curved rammed earth walls, pools and fountains cascading down the site, designed by award-winning landscape architects Andy Sturgeon. At first these 1:3 terraces were a place for goats not people. Inaccessible and unusable the house sat at one end of the plot with a steep, isolated grass bank at the other. An empty island amongst the neighbouring buildings, this lawned desert lacked interest and biodiversity and was completely exposed to the weather, to neighbours and to passers-by. The adjacent grade II listed church loomed over the garden and was such a powerful presence that it completely dominated the place.

We wanted to make a garden with atmosphere and character that embraces you when you leave and welcomes you when you return home. Winding paths now lead down and across the slopes to a new entrance in the bottom corner. Curved retaining walls like scattered petals create level seating areas, shelter and shade and provide a backdrop to the new architectural planting and opportunities for lighting. Steps were kept to a minimum by working with the slope and coupled with curving paths encourage movement and exploration.

New planting created clear vistas to the sea while partially obscuring neighbouring buildings, including the church by balancing its vast bulk with the canopies of new trees. We blurred the boundaries to unite the house and garden with the wider setting and knitted it into its site. The mass of planting introduced a heart to the garden, an intimacy and a level of privacy.
The Mediterranean planting relies heavily on structure, texture and evergreens to ensure the garden remained beautiful even in the depths of winter. Bulbs, perennials and grasses bring colour throughout the year and there is something to catch the eye at every turn. A series of water chutes and rocky pools flow down the slope and bring the garden to life.

Concrete retaining walls were needed due to the ground conditions of the site. These were poured in layers to give the appearance of rammed earth, and several different mixes of aggregates were used to give contrasting colours. These walls were partly inspired by the neighbouring church, where the surfaces are rougher and sandier, then as you move away from the church and towards the new house the surface finishes change from a rougher, sandier tone to a more contemporary appearance. Portuguese limestone for instance was used with hand fettled step edges to bring a crisp contemporary quality with a hand worked element. The same material was used for stone seats and more rustic steps. Breedon self-binding gravel softened the overall appearance of the hard landscaping, allowing plants to spill over the edge, while glacial boulders were brought in for the water features and to retain some for the stepper planting beds without the need for walls.

We retained as much existing material on site as possible, using local fabricators and suppliers wherever possible. We have significantly increased biodiversity through increasing planting areas and species, and successfully managed to relocate existing olive trees & fruit trees elsewhere on the site to help with privacy. The planting is all climate change resilient with low water requirements, while attenuation on site helps with storm water run-off.

The house itself has a biodiverse green roof, which oversails the main house to reduce solar gain in the summer months. The building is heated by air-source heat pumps driving energy-efficient underfloor heating throughout.

The site had a number of constraints that affected the surface choices. For instance, its steep slope and deep clay soils meant the ground was soft and therefore well-engineered and durable materials had to be chosen. Significant retaining walls had to be built to make the site accessible, and exposure to high coastal winds meant they had to be able to resist high wind loads. This was made more of an issue because of how overlooked the site was. Firstly by public roads above and below, and secondly by neighbouring properties including a grade II listed church. This meant that materials had to be chosen to maintain privacy as well as responding to the local context.

The challenging site meant that a number of robust and unusual materials had to be used, from the concrete retaining walls (with a rammed earth appearance) and glacial boulders near the church to the charcoal brick, Portland stone and Portuguese limestone near the new house. These surfaces give a previously barren slope, suitable only for goats, an extraordinary amount of richness and character.