Ideas Factory/ the foundry

29 on the go · 3 materials
nothing here is finished

The house from lower down the meadow on an autumn afternoon, low golden sun from the left. The hub sits in front, a low round pavilion in layered sandstone-banded concrete on a rough stone plinth, with a curved floor-to-ceiling window showing the lit living and dining room inside and a small oak spout on its shoulder. Behind it a long banded wall with a fern ledge leads up the slope to a group of smaller round pavilions with lit doors, staggered at different heights. Long uncut grass with a mown path runs up to the house, oak and beech woodland in autumn colour crowns the slope, and a plain building with a solar roof is half hidden at the far left. Close to the brief. Off brief: the walls stand upright under a thin rounded cap, rather than leaning in and rolling over a big soft shoulder into the roof. The banding reads pale ochre and pink rather than dark sandstone. The night corridor reads as a terraced retaining wall rather than a low rounded corridor, and the pods have lit doors on their south faces, where the plan enters each pod from the corridor.

← the floorNight Walk House/spaces·if / 065

South elevation

The pavilions on a south-facing slope, with rounded shoulders, tactile banded walls and a ramp of 1 in 16 to bed.

The card

spaces 06 of 06

South elevation

spaces 06 of 06idea_065

The notes

rendered

Sheet 06 · South elevation, massing · approx. 1:450, slope falls toward viewer · Revision C: slope, detail, rounded shoulders.

South elevation on a slope falling towards the viewer: rounded-shoulder pavilions in banded dark sandstone concrete step up the hillside, with stone plinths, moss ledges, deep-set slots and oak fins over the glazing, in long meadow below the woodland.

revision C

On a south-facing slope. The glade falls south at about 1 in 8, some 6 m across the house. Each pavilion's north side digs into the hill and its glazing looks out and down over the meadow. The cluster climbs the slope with the ground, each pavilion staying low above its own floor.

Rounded shoulders. Walls lean in slightly and roll into the shallow roofs over a big soft radius, so there is no hard edge between wall and roof. The rooms keep full height except right at the edge.

A ramp to bed. The pods are set 1 m into the hillside so the night corridor rises only 2 m over 32 m, about 1 in 16. An easy stroll with no steps.

wall detail

Tactile bands. Band thickness varies, a few bands step in or out by 20 to 40 mm, and the face is tamped rough with flecks of local stone. Rain darkens it unevenly, like real strata.

Deep-set openings and oak. Small slots and niches are cut deep into the 520 mm walls to break them up with shadow. The big glazing sits behind slim oak fins, and oak spouts throw rainwater clear of the walls.

Stone plinth and moss ledges. A local stone plinth takes the wall into the slope and doubles as the drip strip where the meadow meets the building. One stepped band per pavilion is left as a ledge for moss and ferns.

The drawings

1 sheet
South elevation, sheet 06, massing, Revision C, approx. 1:450, with the slope falling towards the viewer. Round-shouldered pavilions in banded concrete step up the hillside on stone plinths, with moss ledges, deep-set slots, oak fins over the hub glazing and an oak spout. From left: the garage with its sloped solar roof, the gym, the hub, and the night corridor ramping up 2 m at 1 in 16 past the guest pod and pod B to the couple's pod. Long meadow in front and woodland at the top of the slope behind.
01 · South elevation

The plates

1 · lift any one out
The house from lower down the meadow on an autumn afternoon, low golden sun from the left. The hub sits in front, a low round pavilion in layered sandstone-banded concrete on a rough stone plinth, with a curved floor-to-ceiling window showing the lit living and dining room inside and a small oak spout on its shoulder. Behind it a long banded wall with a fern ledge leads up the slope to a group of smaller round pavilions with lit doors, staggered at different heights. Long uncut grass with a mown path runs up to the house, oak and beech woodland in autumn colour crowns the slope, and a plain building with a solar roof is half hidden at the far left. Close to the brief. Off brief: the walls stand upright under a thin rounded cap, rather than leaning in and rolling over a big soft shoulder into the roof. The banding reads pale ochre and pink rather than dark sandstone. The night corridor reads as a terraced retaining wall rather than a low rounded corridor, and the pods have lit doors on their south faces, where the plan enters each pod from the corridor.
01 · The house from lower down the meadow on an autumn afternoon