Torispardon is a new build private house in the Central Highlands, nestled on a hillside with panoramic views of the Cairngorm Mountains and the Spey Valley.
It is formed of three elements; the Cottage which accommodates guests and can be ‘shut off’ when not required, the timber Link which houses the main entrance, utility and kitchen, and the Steading which has the master suite and living areas. Frameless glass elements are employed to visually separate the three buildings, whilst allowing them to physically interact.
The project is sensitive to its origins and context, the traditional vernacular of the Cottage and Steading echo the footprint, materiality and massing of the original buildings which were on the site, whilst the contemporary timber clad Link is agricultural in form and deliberately subservient to the adjacent buildings. The Steading is sunk partially in the ground, cutting into the land behind as it rises so that it appears to sit in the landscape that surrounds it.
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Location:
Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
Credits:
Stuart Archer & Liz Marinko (Architect + Interior Design)
AW Laing Ltd, Grantown on Spey (Contractor)
Allen, Gordon LLP (Engineer)
David Barbour (Photography)
French + Tye, courtesy of The Modern House (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0-6 Concept to Completion
(including kitchen, bathroom and joinery design)
Limestone House is the full internal refurbishment, part two storey and rear large contemporary extension of a Grade C listed Victorian villa in a Conservation Area in central Edinburgh.
The existing property is primarily arranged over a single floor characterised by grand rooms with high ceiling heights and original period features.
The architectural proposition was to touch lightly on the historic fabric, applying a neutral warm palette that both softens and highlights the many decorative elements throughout the spaces.
A large stone and glass clad extension cantilevers over the garden to the rear and introduces an open light filled space.
The extension itself is clad in fossilised limestone which is a modern take on the original buff sandstone which is prevalent in the Victorian and Georgian architecture of Edinburgh. A long, timber clad courtyard separates the new addition from the main house, with a series of full height, frameless windows providing glimpses of the existing stonework.
A limited palette of natural materials were carefully chosen and detailed for all the contemporary elements; from ensuring the same stone was used in the mortar between the limestone cladding, to picking the correct species of timber to tonally match the extension.
The project is a testament to the way the project team worked closely together throughout the entire process, from the tastes and ambitions of the client, to the mid-century inspired terracing introduced by the landscape designer, and the considered detailing of ourselves and the main contractor.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
Edinburgh, Scotland
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Architects)
Gloss Projects (Contractor)
Simple Works (Structural Engineer)
The Landscape Lady (Landscape Designer)
Hen and Crask (Interior Design)
Kitchens by Coast (Kitchen)
IDES (AV + security)
Will Scott (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion.
Triptych House is the full internal refurbishment and contemporary extension of a Grade II listed semi-detached family home in a Conservation Area in North London.
The existing property consisted of three separate elements (or bays) which were visually distinct and a result of the subsequent extension of the house in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The extension at lower ground floor is split into two distinct elements to reflect the tripartite appearance of the rear elevation. The tones of the brickwork and metalwork aim to bring together the various disparate materials of the existing rear facade which include aged buff London stock brickwork, red brickwork and lime render.
Despite only having a small foot print, the addition of the extension allowed for a remodelling of the existing kitchen area to create a light-filled kitchen and dining space with a separate large hidden pantry.
The upper floors were refurbished and partially reconfigured to accommodate a new utility room, en-suite to the master bedroom, dressing room and study.
Working closely with the client, due care and attention was given to every detail on this project - from an overarching colour palette, to lighting strategies and choice of soft furnishings.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Architecture + Interior Design)
Turley (Planning + Heritage)
Freddy Antell (Interiors - FF+E)
Simple Works (Structural Engineer)
Integrated AV (AV + security)
DeVol (Kitchen + pantry)
French+Tye (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion.
Larch House is the refurbishment and extension of a period end-of-terrace property in a Conservation Area in South London. The clients were a young, growing family who enjoy cooking and hosting friends. The brief required a larger kitchen and dining space alongside a play room and plenty of storage.
The new wrap-around extension was set back from the boundary in order to reduce its visual impact on the street. This provided the opportunity to introduce a glazed wall and planter, filling the new kitchen/dining space with light throughout the day.
In the garden, the existing fruit trees were retained. The garden was reinvigorated with abundant new flowers and grasses, and several areas for outdoor dining and cooking.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Sarah Braun + Stuart Archer (Architect)
Simple Works (Structural Engineer)
Tom Morris (Interior Design)
Miria Harris (Landscape Design)
French + Tye (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion
Larch Studio replaced an existing derelict garage to create a gym, steam room and garden store in a Conservation Area in South London. The pitched roof form and narrow larch cladding boards mirrored the design of Larch Studio, a wraparound extension at the upper end of the garden. The interior of the gym is finished in birch plywood and cork, creating a bright and warm atmosphere.
The landscape design incorporated the area around the gym to accommodate an area for outdoor cooking and dining, as well as retaining the existing fruit trees.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Sarah Braun + Stuart Archer (Architect)
Simple Works (Structural Engineer)
Miria Harris (Landscape Design)
French + Tye (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion
Edinburgh Pavilion is the full internal refurbishment and large contemporary extension of a Grade B listed Victorian villa in a Conservation Area in central Edinburgh. Planning Consent was obtained in February 2018 and the project was completed in September 2019.
The existing property consists of a series of grand rooms with significant decorative features, arranged in a formal manner reflective of the time in which it was built.
The proposed addition is a deliberate contrast to this and aims to create a flexible and light-filled space more in line with modern living. This is achieved through a primarily glazed rectangular volume that is open plan with minimal structural intervention. The large sliding glazed wall panels allow the space to open up to the garden beyond.
The stone walls are made from solid Corsehill, a warm red and fine grained sandstone that has been used in some of Edinburgh’s most recognisable buildings such as the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Different textures of this stone are used for different elevations, with a smooth rubbed finish to the front, and a rough gritblased texture to the side and rear.
In modernising this listed Victorian property, its future is guarded for generations to come.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
Edinburgh, Scotland
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Design Architects)
16X (Executive Architect)
Elite Property Solutions (Contractor)
SDC (Structural Engineer)
The Landscape Lady (Landscape Designer)
Hen and Crask (Interior Design)
Cameron Interiors (Kitchen)
James Morrow (AV)
David Barbour (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion. Retained as client advisor post planning.
A collaboration with Grace Fletcher
This Grade II listed townhouse was refurbished and extended to provide a flexible living space leading into a reinvigorated garden. Two stairs provide access to living spaces on the lower ground floor – circulating around the original rear façade and bridging the existing footprint with the new.
The lower ground floor extension is embedded in-between the house and garden. Reclaimed Ballachulish roofing slates stack against the retaining walls, further setting the new building into the ground. Whilst each slate is rough and imperfect, the deep façade they form has the impression of a unified texture, where individual edges are only softly expressed by the light they catch.
Set below mature trees and facing north, direct light is experienced through looking up and out at the reflections on leaves. Water is heard trickling through the exposed pipe and gulley that feeds the plants within the garden room. A tank within the wall cavity stores excess rainwater - to maintain supply throughout the year.
It was imperative for the new construction to both challenge and respect its Georgian antecedent. The extension has been developed as two intersecting masses. An unexpected double height space responds to the verticality of the house’s staircase and employs a clerestory to draw light down into the building from the east and west. Nestled below is a gallery that mediates between the low ceilings of the existing lower ground floor, the circulation space, and the garden.
Materials were chosen that will respond and adapt to the environment they are built in. As time passes the copper, slate and lime render have begun to patinate, crumble and stain. Internally, slabs of travertine, clay plaster and lime washed timber comprise a bright space reflecting through the dark external shell.
Lambeth Road was recently longlisted for a Dezeen Award.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Grace Fletcher (Design Architect, Interior Design, Landscape)
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Executive Architect)
Harrison Shortt (Structural Engineer)
French + Tye (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 3 to 4 - technical design
Retained as client advisor post tender
Medway House is a two storey period terraced property in a Conservation Area in East London. The project entailed a side return extension to provide space for a new kitchen and dining area, as well as the creation of a basement level by underpinning and extending an existing coal cellar.
The basement floor accommodated a new gym and study at the front of the house, with a walk-on rooflight bringing in daylight. To the rear, a new snug/TV room was connected to the kitchen area by a two storey light well, which not only brought daylight into the basement room but also functioned as a library. A small second stair meant that the kitchen can be accessed directly for snacks and cups of tea.
At ground floor level, the most was made of a compact floor plan by giving a small up a small area of the kitchen to a wet room and utility and bike cupboard.
In order to make the IKEA-hack kitchen feel spacious and bright, the material palette was limited to oak and off-white colours. A green marble island brings a moment of drama and references the finish of the extension, which has been clad in one seamless piece of green slate.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Sarah Braun + Stuart Archer (Architect + Interior Design)
Harrison Shortt (Structural Engineer)
French + Tye (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion
(including kitchen, bathroom and joinery design)
Picture Frame House is a ground floor extension and full internal refurbishment of a terraced house in the Albert Gardens Conservation Area of Stepney Green, East London.
The house had not been updated since the 1970’s and required modernisation. A side infill extension allowed for the internal rearrangement of the ground floor which created a larger flexible kitchen area.
The resulting spaces have been further enhanced through collaboration with a local picture framer who fabricated bespoke American black walnut and oak ‘picture frames’, which are used to frame different window-sized openings.
Rather than the typical fully open-plan ground floors seen in many contemporary properties, it was decided to add these elements to allow for the individual areas of kitchen, lounge and dining to be defined without merging into one another, and to allow for unexpected interactions to naturally occur.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Architect + Interior Design)
Harrison Shortt (Structural Engineer)
Brider & Bull (Picture Framer)
David Barbour (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0-6 Concept to Completion
(including kitchen, bathroom and joinery design)
Schindel studio is a purpose built, sustainable artist's studio in Leytonstone, East London, for the landscape painter Amelia Humber.
Utilising shingles to clad the walls and roof was influenced by Archer + Braun’s co-founder Sarah Braun's exposure to the architectural vernacular of rural villages in the Alps. The shingles, a low carbon and sustainable product, were sourced from an artisan producer in Bavaria that produces shingles that are hand split and made from older larch ’shingle’ trees, creating a finish to the timber that exposes the grain and is rich in variety and texture. When experimenting with different finishes, the black matt finish eventually chosen emphasises the variation present in the surface of each shingle, and gave a typically rustic material a contemporary and unifying quality.
The building's form and articulation are entirely in response to its function as an artist's studio. The roof is pitched to allow for north light, and the wall space is maximised for artworks. There is one single window over the large butler sink is where artwork would not have been able to be hung in any case. The interior has been envisaged as a ‘white box’, providing robust and durable working surfaces that are easily repainted.
The ambition for the studio was to both construct and run it using the latest sustainable materials and technologies. Rather than pour concrete which is environmentally problematic, screw piles were used for the foundations. Instead of specifying standard petrochemical insulation that is widely available for the studio’s thermal envelope, the walls and roof were specified to be entirely breathable, using insulation made from both wood fibre and recycled denim from the fashion industry. All glazing is triple glazed. The insulation specified outperforms current Building Regulations requirements so that only one small electric radiator (powered by solar panels on the roof of the main house) is required for heating purposes.
All the existing mature trees in the garden were retained. This partially conceals the overall form of the studio, with the black finish of the shingles providing a backdrop to the changing daylight and passing seasons.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Architect)
Simple Works (Structural Engineer)
French + Tye (Photography)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 1-6 Concept to Completion
High Weald House is three bedroom new build house located in the High Weald AONB in East Sussex.
The building is a result of a complex planning strategy, and involves the replacement of existing dilapidated structures within the grounds of a Grade II listed manor house. Working with Hughes Planning Consultancy, we obtained planning consent for the project in 2020.
The form is influenced by the proportions and footprints of the existing structures, with main spaces oriented to make the most of the elevated views of the South Downs. An existing timber barn on the site serves as inspiration for the use of timber cladding which has been applied to the walls and roof. The pared back aesthetic and use of natural, locally sourced materials is a deliberate contrast to the ornate appearance of the main house.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
High Weald AONB, East Sussex, England
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Architect)
Hughes Planning (Planning consultant)
Dead Nettle Studio (Visualisation)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 3 - Concept to Planning
Béton brut is a rough finished architectural surface made of concrete. Béton Brit is a ground floor extension and internal refurbishment of a locally listed terraced house in the Albert Gardens Conservation Area of Stepney Green, East London.
Working in close collaboration with the client, a photographer, establishing the materiality of this project has been key. In a nod to to mid century British architects taking the French Auguste Perret’s Béton Brut and adopting it as their own to create Brutalism, the client wanted to develop an architectural language that is recognisably British.
This has been achieved primarily by a careful consideration of locally sourced and reused materials, which is a sustainable approach to renovation. This includes the worktops that were hand fabricated from old growth Burmese teak flooring sourced from Plaistow Hospital, a local victorian building.
Externally, pre-cast visual grade concrete panels with an exposed aggregate have warm tones that compliment the London stock brickwork it sits adjacent to. The rough texture of this finish is offset by dark metal slimline sliding doors. Internally, the concrete floor has been processed to expose the aggregate in the material to align with the exterior.
By omitting the usual suspects you’d expect to see on an extension - coping, downpipes, cills, lights, reveals, frames - and paring the design back to its elemental forms, a more timeless aesthetic is achieved.
Please get in touch here if you have a potential project you’d like to discuss.
Location:
London, England
Credits:
Stuart Archer + Sarah Braun (Architect + Interior Design)
Harrison Shortt (Structural Engineer)
David Barbour (Photography)
Lassco Ropewalk (Reclaimed materials)
Scope of service:
Appointed from RIBA Stage 0 to 6 - Concept to Completion
(including kitchen, bathroom and joinery design)
