In this project, we designed a house for a family with two smart boys and a great mum and dad.
This is a different proposition to anything else we have done like this and speaks for a home which will be occupied by four adults in the years to come, all with disparate desires and requirements out of life. The image is of a barrier; glistening in its resistance as would a shield but also welcoming as would a sheet of gold.
We wanted this sort of feeling at the street of the house, one of a sense of welcome as well as one of a sense of privacy and security; for this was the client's brief even if it was a paradox; we needed to find this paradox.
"The world consists of active spirits and inert matter"
The Kensington House is a home for a family of four. The residence provides a sensitively controlled private realm for its occupants, through varying degrees of transparency in each direction. The street-facing east facade is finely screened in timber; whilst the two sides towards neighbours have high level glazing and are otherwise blank save for a slither of window illuminating various service spaces. The west facade provides expansive views, mediating sunlight with operable louvres, large overhangs and vertical concrete blinkers.
The front elevation offers a clear treatise on the necessary elements of entry to a home: fence, path, wall, door, and overhang. The simplicity of these components draws the visitor into a crystalline, uncomplicated experience of entry; towards a timber door under a steel awning of simple proportions.
