Each year, the Royal Institute of British Architects releases a list of the best new houses in the UK. A panel of judges will then decide which will be crowned RIBA House of the Year.
Over the next few weeks, this year’s candidates for the competition will be showcased in a Grand Designs series on Channel 4.
A quarter of the projects are located in our region – here are the highlights from across the North of England.
Contemporary Lean To – Doma Architecture
Located in the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate, this renovation project is quite literally a contemporary twist on the traditional lean-to.
An angular fibre cement-clad shell is clamped to the side of a large semi-detached property. The add-on houses an internal staircase that leads from the main house, to the basement rooms and garden below, replacing a steep external stair and connecting the two previously disjointed aspects of the home.
The interior has been substantially remodelled, with a new kitchen and dining room on the first floor, as well as the addition of a utility space and sitting room in the basement.
Wetherby based practice Doma Architecture has already won awards for the project including the RIBA Yorkshire award and the AJ Small Projects Award, an annual prize for the best schemes built for less than £250,000.
Photography by Ruth Donnelly.
Contour House – Sanei + Hopkins
One of two projects on the 2016 shortlist designed by Sanei + Hopkins, this home in the Peak District village of Baslow follows the contour lines on the site, ensuring the arrangement of the building follows the movement of it’s landscape.
Inspired by the national park’s drystone walls, the building’s elevations and roof are clad with a rainscreen of locally quarried stone. The architects collaborated with a master drystone waller to establish how ancient techniques could be used to achieve this contemporary aesthetic.
Inside, open plan living areas are arranged down the central spine of the house, with circulation located either side. Carefully positioned openings offer views of the surrounding moorland and, in the distance, Chatsworth house.
Photography courtesy of Sanei + Hopkins Architects.
Edge Hill – Sutherland Hussey Harris
Designed by Edinburgh based architects Sutherland Hussey Harris, Edge Hill in Newcastle upon Tyne features a rectangular body of reconstituted stone and an imposing timber canopy that connects the solid base of this home with it’s copper-clad roof.
The carefully detailed hardwood screen provides a triple height entrance hall which runs the entire length of the house. White walls and unobtrusive concrete floors ensure attention is drawn upward toward the red wood.
As a respectful nod to the strict bylaws of the affluent Darras Hill estate where the building sits, the house is set back from the streetscape, while large expanses of glass at each end of the house look out across landscaped grounds.
Photograph courtesy of Sutherland Hussey Harris.
Private house – Bennetts Associates
Located in a bustling Cumbrian market town, this house is accessed by a steep, narrow lane, and looks across a valley which inspired the likes of John Ruskin.
Designed by national firm Bennetts Associates for a friend of the practice, the building is partially set back into a tightly-constrained site. Stone-clad walls help the structure to blend with it’s immediate context of terraces, retaining walls and mature trees.
L-shaped in plan, the ground floor houses four bedrooms and a guitar workshop – all organised around a walled garden. A green roof helps the dwelling settle into its location, continuing the slope of the ground above, and giving the effect of a ha-ha.
Two independent zinc-clad pavilions perch above the stone structure and accommodate the kitchen and living space. A glazed walkway straddles the two lightweight elements and contains the staircase.
Photography by Brian Ormerod.
Private house 1109 – GA Studio
This modest house in Cheshire features a timber-clad box nestled within the tree canopy – slightly offset yet carefully balanced on the red-brick walls of the ground floor and garden.
At ground floor level, timber ceilings act as a constant reminder of the above structure and the bare masonry is extended into the circulation space at the core of the home, contrasting with the white wall finish of the rest of the home.
The two materials are combined at the rear of the house, to create a large, deep frame for the storey-high glazing that opens to the garden from the kitchen and living spaces.
Manchester-based practice GA Studio utilised clever storage solutions and carefully designed lighting to maximise space with a modest budget.
Photography courtesy of GA Studio.