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Split House

Sevenoaks

Project Details

£1m to £1.99M

New Build

Practice

London Atelier Ltd

Unit 7 , 160 Barlby Road , London , W10 6BS , United Kingdom

Split house is a new build three storey family home set into a steep hill in Sevenoaks, Kent. The site is set between two detached houses on a hill sloping down towards the North. stacking the volumes down the hill in a step-down fashion would have resulted in a series of North-facing spaces with little direct sunlight. It would have also limited the direct connection with green spaces, which would naturally located further up the hill to the South. The concept splits the mass into two halves connected via a central glazed link envisaged as an atrium housing the staircase. The glazed link is set in from the main mass to create a small central courtyard bringing external green space into the centre of the plan. The levels in the two halves are staggered. In the Northern half of the building they are set 1.2m below the level in the Southern half, following the slope of the hill. Each half of the building has three levels with staggered access via the central staircase, forming six distinct split levels. The glazed link allows sunlight to penetrate every room, even in the most Northern part of the building. To the rear, a sunken stepped garden with planting at multiple levels forms a dense green space beginning at the lower ground floor. The insertion of a central courtyard with a silver Birch tree, breaks up the deep plan of the building, injecting daylight into the middle of the building.