New House in St George

April 24, 2020

This week we’ve been starting to develop ideas for a number of new homes within existing back gardens of large homes in Bristol. Its something we’re very familiar with; the Chalk Wall House project in Dorset was the first that Barefoot Architects completed 10 years ago in the vegetable garden of the house where Sam grew up! The approach to designing a sustainable new home for his parents developed there is something that we still refer to. Low energy, low waste, low cost and sustainable solutions are all key to our work. Developing site specific stories that build on the history and character of a site are essential to our work, and enable them to have meaning and resonance for our clients, and help win local and planning acceptance.

This project is on an amazing site next to an historic Old Farm House, and we’ve been testing a range of approaches, including this courtyard house which seeks to create an inward looking home that avoids any overlooking to both the original house, and its neighbours, whilst providing distant view over local green space and historic land marks. The materials seek to refer to, but not mimic the surroundings, through their colour, texture and sustainability.