South House

To the south of the paired north house, is this home for a businessman and his family. The mass of the south house is treated as a layered construction – which can be peeled away and cut into in order to allow a poetic inhabitation of the building and the modulation of light and air. The deep wall construction accommodates a sliding window and door system, in which large glazed panels can slide in the recess provided in the external wall. The sculptural mass of the building is mediated by the continually varying arrangement of the windows and doors, reflecting changes in the inhabitation of the interior. The external frames of the panels are positioned on the external face of the wall, so that from the interior only the glazing is visible – almost like an incipient ruin. This internal simplicity is complicated by the potential for movement on the external façade. Internally, the house is enriched by the play of light entering through frameless glass skylights – slots cut along the length of spaces which detach ceiling from walls. The sensual and spatial play which results as light changes in different seasons and weather conditions is a fundamental part of the architecture. As in the north house each section of the building is screened from others, acknowledging the complex privacy systems of dwelling. Private upper level balconies cut from the linear masses both provide open space for individual use and carve light filled spaces into the solidity of the construction. The inhabitation and use of the building therefore informs its complex construction – balancing private spaces against more public ones and openness and delicacy against the robustness of brick and concrete. The house is designed to be completely wheelchair accessible, with flush thresholds and wide spaces, as well as an internal lift to link the floor levels.