Horsforth, Leeds // Yorkshire
A sleek and contemporary luxury extension to a 19th Century Yorkshire house located in the historic town of Horsforth.
When approached with the opportunity to intervene in the fabric of a 19th Century house, we elected to produce a scheme that is unabashedly contemporary but equally deferential to the existing. The feature brass element encloses a glass box and wrapping the architecture, emerging from and returning to the stonework elements.Richard Sandbach ARB RIBA (Architect)
Designing for Historic Buildings
Nestled in the characterful and historic town of Horsforth, the site of this project is a densely planted sloping plot in which a wonderful 19th Century house was constructed in a style typical of the West Yorkshire vernacular. The existing build is of a beautifully articulated stone construction from an era when craft and artistry was the rule, not the exception, resulting in a building that radiates quality. The brief is intended to provide a beautifully crafted and capacious kitchen, dining and seating area to enable the original building to be enjoyed for years to come.
Our challenge was simple: to create a radical design that is harmonious with the existing building without compromising its own aesthetic and architectural entity.
Sensitive Heritage meets Contemporary Design
The guiding principle for the design was to express through texture and colour both the differences and the similarities of the material palette, particularly the stonework and the metal cladding. We are ever conscious that it is nearly impossible to make a new building truly look old and, as such, the decision was made to make the new stonework contemporaneous of our own time, electing for clean and sharp lines created by precision cuts and minimal jointing. There is never direct connection between the old stonework and the new, these elements separated by a glass link that runs the length of the extension which also defines and distinguishes the new and old. The two elements of the building are therefore not designed to be in competition, but the commonalities between them are more than the purely gesturing at the vernacular: this design engages in a sense of craft, albeit a modern one, for which the existing house is so successful.
What can JAR Architecture do for you?
If this radical, contemporary extension captures you own imagination and you want to explore the possibilities for your own project without any obligation, please do get in contact with us.
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