This new house in Highgate is situated within the Hampstead Heath Fringes Conservation Area and overlooks a golf course. The brief was for a modern family house that would provide space for entertaining as well as for family living. The views to the vast open space of the adjoining golf course were to be exploited to the full. A sunken courtyard makes these views possible while also providing access to a large indoor swimming pool. The new house was obliged by the planners to respect the volume and height of the adjacent buildings. The scheme therefore incorporates a basement with ample natural light from the sunken courtyard, while doubling the size of the previous house on the site. The design brings a sharpness in a street which is predominately more formal. The large sunken courtyard to the rear allows the rooms in the basement to have an open space in front of them while enjoying the view of the swimming pool to the other side of the courtyard.