HORTON IN RIBBLESDALE HOUSING
RIBA Competition
2019
RIBA Competition
2019
The site sits at the edge of Horton in Ribblesdale, a transition point beween the village and open countryside, and the form of the proposal responds to this by looking to the agricultural farmsteads of the Dales rather than the dwellings within the village. These farmsteads are formed of a series of buildings around a shared working yard, and are read as objects in (and part of) the landscape rather than of a continuous building grain.
The proposal works with the site gradient to minimise the visual impact on the landscape. In line with the Housing Development Plan for this site, buildings are a maximum of two storeys, but their impact is reduced by bedding them into the landscape, forming a sunken courtyard protected from the elements but orientated to capture the sun. This helps to give the building a solidity that is fundamental to the architecture of the existing stone farmsteads, and in a more contemporary example, the Sea Ranch by Moore, Lyndon, Turnbull and Whitaker where the buildings’ arrangement and materials in relation to the landscape contribute greatly to its sense of permanence and protection in an exposed setting; a key reference point for this proposal. The scheme provides 4 new dwellings mostly at first floor level above a plinth that houses ancillary spaces and a significant provision of new workspace activating the courtyard. This means dwellings benefit from expansive views and dual aspect living spaces. The prominent gable elevation has been allocated as double height commercial space, either for residents’ use or for the wider community; somewhere for exhibitions, public meetings, or perhaps a cafe. Although the proposal is highly contextual in its layout and response to the site, the dwellings are highly modular and could be easily adapted to suit other locations including a typical terraced setting where conventional front and rear gardens or balconies would be accessed from the living area which runs the depth of the plan. In this location gable ends have been left deliberately blank, echoing the surrounding agricultural barns, and minimising the impact on neighbouring properties. The public facing leaf of the building is stone - with the gable end of the commercial space leaning out to meet the existing dry stone wall along the road. The internal elevations around the courtyard as shown as clad in an untreated timber which would weather to match the tone of the stonework, whilst being inexpensive and fast to assemble. The highly visible roofs would be slate to relate to the surrounding buildings, with deep window reveals again expressing a sense of solidity despite a lightweight construction. Dwellings have been designed to compliment the workspace provision, encouraging new residents to live and work on site. All are sized to meet National Space Standards with generous 1500mm wide circulation spaces throughout, and double leaf doors enabling easy access for bulky equipment for home working. The 3 bedroom homes have been designed with a sliding partition between the living space and third bedroom to enable use as a home office. For efficiency of construction, the two apartments are regularised with a single window type used throughout, a single bathroom layout to maximise the potential for offsite fabrication. Roof spaces have been left open to provide the best quality of living space but with the potential for future conversion to accommodate a growing business or family in which case the extra width in the circulation spaces would enable the retrofitting of a stair. Private external amenity space has only been allocated to the larger apartments as it was considered that a more generous shared courtyard would provide valuable recreation space and engender a cohesive community, particularly when encouraging live/work. A timber loggia runs around the perimeter of the courtyard with a low maintenance planted roof providing a covered connection between the workspace and the commercial unit. Access to the larger apartments is via an external stair that slices between the buildings and provides a direct link and a visual link to the surrounding landscape, whereas the smaller apartments are accessed directly from the loggia or via a raised walkway above. Parking is accommodated in a low stone structure on the eastern boundary, again reminiscent of an agricultural enclosure it removes vehicles from the public realm and preserves the rural appearance of the frontage. Additional parking is located underneath the larger apartments which, if retained by the developer, could be converted to extra workspace in future if parking need diminishes. |