Garden House was born from a highly detailed and specific brief, where the home’s owners wanted a sustainable, super modern, long-term family home, that could change and adapt over time. The existing home was a tired, single-fronted cottage with a 1980s addition at the rear that opened out onto a surprising. large, private garden, which opened up opportunities to deliver a unique and unexpected home anchored by its landscaping.

The most challenging aspect of the brief was addressing its requirements without creating a huge scale home. Austin Maynard Architects addressed this by breaking down the visual bulk of the building, and designing the house as a collection of volumes to house separate function. These volumes appear as separate buildings, ‘invisibly’ connected via mirrored glass corridors that reflect the deep-rooted garden. Each new space is designed to prioritise the connections to outside, with multiple aspects where possible.

The principles of environmental sustainable design were accommodated within the built form of the house without it being an obvious add-on or overt gesture. A balance was made between architecture and the perceived notion of eco design. Without being obvious an ESD approach was fundamental tp the sophisticated architecture of the house – providing the setting for logical yet seamless integration of sustainability initiatives, both natural and technical.

Garden House was designed to function off grid and is completely self-powered, all-electric with no connection to the gas network. The family’s electric car is also completely powered by the house, ensuring they never have to pay for power or fuel.

Photography by Derek Swalwell.

Dissections
Furniture: Space Furniture (B&B Italia), Hub (Moroso, Coedition), Domo. Lighting: Unios. Funishes: Artedomus, EC Carpet, Hanson Imagecrete, The Brick Recyclers, Disegno Casa. Fittings & Fixtures: Big Ass Fans, Laros Technologies (ventilation), Sanden (hot water system), Daiken Altherma hydronic heating.