Based in Wantage, Oxfordshire, Allister Godfrey Architects is an award-winning Chartered Architectural practice that aims to alleviate the stress of new builds, extensions and alterations in any kind of home or residential development.
For over the five years their clients had been on a quest to find a site where the ambition of building a sustainable modern dwelling could be realised. Late in 2014 a tired 1960’s bungalow in a leafy, secluded part of the village became available.
The site was not without planning constraints; being right on the edge of the conservation area, the neighbouring historic cottage directly overlooking the front of the property, and the garden bisected by Greenbelt. After a challenging planning campaign, planning permission was granted mid-2015 and demolition of the old bungalow kick-started the 10-month build of a low-carbon timber framed home.
The modern form is driven partly by context and inherent planning considerations and partly from the functionality of a sustainable house.
Almost as a palimpsest of a previous building, a ribbon of stone appears on the ground near the entrance, becomes a wall to the double height hallway and directs the view through to the south facing rear of the building. The choice of a Cotswold buff facing brick and unfinished timber cladding all serve to visually anchor the house to its location.
Their clients have left behind comfortable, but dark, draughty, thatched stone cottages and have truly embraced their warm, mechanically ventilated, ground source heated, modern and light-filled home.
