Copper Beeches

Two blocks carefully located between two copper beech trees



Project details

Location

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Type

Home

Client

Private

Size

180m²

Status

Complete

Copper beeches is located on Hamilton road, close to the centre of High Wycombe. The sustainable new house stands alone on a small infill site located between two existing houses East and West and two TPO’d Copper Beech trees North and South.

Process

At planning stage, the project was challenging due to its proximity to the trees, we submitted a complete foundation design to demonstrate that the proposed house would not disturb the existing trees. The proposed foundation design was a series of carefully located screw piles with a floating ground bearing slab above.

The house is broken into two sculptural blocks, one in handmade local tile to reflect the materials of the neighbouring bungalow and the other in handmade local brick to reflect the material of the neighbouring house. The blocks are joined by a timber glazed link providing circulation between rooms and storeys.

The form is staggered in plan to respond to the neighbouring footprints, with the house to the West located on the road and the bungalow on the East being set back.

 

The house was designed as a sustainable house, all structural construction above ground is in timber, no steel. The facade is highly insulated timber panels wrapped with a Tyvek house wrap achieving an air tightness of 2.5. The house is naturally ventilated and is heated using an air source heat pump.

Awards

2022

AYA Individual House

Architect of the Year – Shortlisted

British Homes Award – Shortlisted

Drawings

Site Plan

Ground and First Floor Plans

Front Elevation

Rear Elevation

Credits

Team

Main Contractor - DSC1 UK Ltd

Structure and Civils - Centre Space Design

Services - Napier Clarke Design Intent

Visualisation - Napier Clarke