Parrock Place, a high end residential redevelopment project, has been shortlisted for the Sussex Heritage Trust‘s Small Scale Residential Award and we were pleased to welcome the Trust’s Judges to the property last week for a visit. The awards are ‘designed to recognise and reward the highest quality conservation, restoration and good design of newly built projects’ and are in their 23rd year.
Parrock Place was built in the 1930’s and sits in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Ashdown Forest Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. The original living space provided in the three-bedroom home was modest and our client wanted to adapt the property into a modern fit-for-purpose family home. Our client was keen to extend the property whilst retaining the architectural feel of a period home and worked with OSG Architecture to develop a design aesthetic that was both continuous to the 1930’s period and harmonious to its surroundings. The final scheme comprised a 2-storey side extension to the eastern end of the dwelling, adaptation of the former garage and new link between the two.
The design of the new extension shows a stepping of the mass throughout the extension, diminishing from the existing structure. The result is one that renders an element of subservience to the original home, enabling it to still stand proudly. The diminishing height also reflects the topography of the land to the South-East corner of the site. This adaption also facilitates a smooth connection to the original home and provide effortless transition between old and now. It delivers an integrated feel and has been achieved by ensuring the eaves work with the extension, by setting the new stone feature under the eaves line allowing the eaves detail to continue through.
The main material forming an important aspect of the aesthetics and heritage success of the scheme was the bricks. These were sourced locally and supplied by Michelmarsh, located 8 miles away in Freshfield Lane. Freshfield Lane produces the brick from their clamp-fired stock facing brick range.
The technical design of the scheme focused on achieve excellent U-values and utilises a fabric first approach to energy efficiency. To enhance further the energy efficiency of not just the new works but also the existing house, air source heat pumps where installed. The entire adapted heating system utilises these units, absorbing heat from a colder place and release it into a warmer place using a vapor-compression refrigeration process, which is recognised as being fundamental in creating energy efficient buildings.
The awards will be held on Wednesday 14th July and we very much look forward to seeing whether Parrock Place can take home this prestigious award.
