Whitecross Street

The client's family business has occupied the premises at 115 Whitecross Street since the 1850s. The original four storey houses date from the 17th century whilst, more recently, additional residential accommodation had been built to the rear of the site overlooking a small park, formed after clearance by second world war bombing. Project Orange were approached with a tripartite brief; to redevelop the rear of the site to create a new family home, to upgrade and renovate the buildings onto the street converting them into rental apartments and to retain and renovate the existing ground floor business use.

The aspect of the new-build house is refocused towards the park, opening generous areas of glazing to benefit from long views and light penetration. The glazing, together with the layering and depth of the façade, gives a spatial richness and light to the interior as well as enhancing the adjoining public space. The living areas are raised to first floor level and link the expansive areas facing the park to more intimate zones grouped around enclosed internal courtyards. These in turn flow through to refurbished areas of the existing buildings fronting the street. A sense of security and protection is afforded by the ground floor brick plinth upon which the new house is perched. The cubic forms of the new upper storeys are characterised by an armature of sheet copper cladding from which emerge volumes finished in rustic oak shakes, a reference to the Arcadian landscape of the park.