We were approached by the developer client who had purchased the site with planning permission for two frankly rather stark and unappealing houses with a brief to redesign the scheme while maintaining the overall footprint and floor area of the scheme. The new designs reflected the nature of the steeply sloping site, placing the principal living accommodation on the upper floors to maximise the views over the surrounding woodland lower down the hill. The upper floor is reached either via the staircases in the entrance halls or directly off the upper terraces at the rear of the property where the site rises up to this floor level. Utilitarian spaces are kept to the rear of the properties on the north side where smaller windows can be placed leaving larger windows to the main living spaces facing south. Excessive solar gain is minimised by the exaggerated eaves, keeping the high summer sun off the large glazed windows while allowing the lower winter sun to warm the rooms. Constructed out of solid blockwork with external insulation and render the houses are economical to build yet surpass the building regulations requirements for insulation.