Architecture

The simple form of the homes is guided by their need to achieve Net Zero Carbon and is a unifying factor across all housing types, from the flats to the garden cottages, to the large townhouses. This enables the homes to be read as a distinctive group that is specific to Hanham Hall. The simplicity of the homes belies the fact they are packed with innovative and novel ideas. Each housing type has a flexible plan, combined kitchen dining spaces traverse the entire ground floor and extensive double height spaces span the top floor in an approach that maximises natural ventilation and light.

Living spaces open onto generous verandas shaded by timber screens. A crafted response which adds a layer of interest to primary facades. The seductive appeal of the verandas is in their ability to bring access to the outdoors directly into the main living space, they have remained a defining feature of the new homes since the early design stages. We engaged in an extensive process of prototyping with Kingspan to achieve a balcony design that avoided over engineering to reduce the quantum of material required in its construction for positive cost and sustainability outcomes. Outside the homes, the footprint of the sloping timber screen extends beyond the doorway, creating a front porch area facing out onto the street. This, and the verandas, encourage neighbours to interact with each other.

The scheme addresses local housing requirements by providing a wide range of accommodation, from 1 bedroom flats and coach houses to five bedroom houses. These are arranged in terraces, semi detached and detached to create varied urban forms. A significant proportion of the homes are family homes with parking in-curtilage or adjacent to the home. Smaller apartments provide an accessible entry level to the housing market, whilst coach houses provide a good intermediate step between houses and apartments. Hanham Hall is run by its residents, who all have a share in a Community Interest Company set up to manage and maintain the buildings and grounds. It promotes community initiatives such as car-sharing clubs, gardening groups and walking school bus projects. The company empowers residents to shape their community and create the resources they need for a sustainable future.

There is increasing awareness of the role retrofitting heritage buildings plays in achieving sustainable outcomes. Reusing our existing buildings reduces the materials and energy required to construct new ones, making a positive contribution to our carbon impact. The Grade II listed Hanham Hall has a long history as a hospital building having been a private care facility before coming into NHS ownership in 1948. It was built as a moated house in the 14th century. Its evolution over the years has defined its V shaped arrangement with the axis of the building running east to west forming the original house and the axis running north to south beginning life as a group of stable blocks, which over time, and successive phases of additions, became tied together via a link building.

Originally built in uncoursed, undressed local pennant stone, the building had a local character and charm, with additional spaces, and layered approaches to construction, evolving over time. We took a restorative, rather than a wholesale retrofit approach to this project, realising that working with the existing fabric and making carefully crafted interventions was a highly sensitive and sustainable approach. The desire to work in this respectful way defined our strategy for the programming of the space which could have easily been given to residential use. Our proposal to create a dedicated community facility with functions including office and co-working space, a creche, farm shop, café and offices for the local community interest company which had been set up to foster development of a strong local network won us the support of Barratt Homes at the competition stage.

We undertook extensive surveys of the building to understand what was there and to find ways to work with it this included producing 2D drawings of the whole building and detailed features such as carved ceiling mouldings. We photographed each room thoroughly and created thorough data sheets of the fabric and other elements. Our work was informed by collaboration with Historic England and ARUP’s local office. Informed by research into how to improve the thermal performance of a solid walled building. As it wasn’t possible to change the wall make-up, we made strategic changes to the internal envelope including updating the windows.