Northbrook

• Client: Private
• Location: Surrey
• Inception of project: 2016
• Status: Planning approval & detailed design stage completed, under construction
• Team: Michel Schranz, Raffaella Sposini & Julien Kiefer
• Planned Completion: Summer 2021

We developed the second phase of a substantial newly constructed country home in the Surrey Hills and acquired planning consent in May 2018.
The new extension comprises of garages, storage spaces, a home office, a staff flat and a re-configured entrance sequence complete with boot room, representative stair access into an atrium space before connecting to the existing living spaces.
Our proposal provides a seemingly closed volume attached to the rear and north elevation of the main house. The facade is a vertically slatted, semi transparent softwood skin concealing many of the smaller window openings, such as toilets, bathrooms, utility room, offices and staff flat. There are 4 larger openings only, including a recessed balcony facing east and both northern entrances on lower and raised ground floor.
The aim was to create a clearly subordinate volume to the rear of the main house but a clear barrier between the house and a beautifully sloped paddock to the north, which is backdropped by dense woodland. This again in stark contrast to the southern exposure which is extensively landscaped with a series of terraces leading down toward a small lake at the bottom of The Valley.
Works have started in July 2020 and are scheduled to complete in July 2021.