Description:

Deacon and Richardson were approach by a developer to create two new contemporary houses on the site of an existing bungalow in Ovingdean, East Sussex.
The sloping L-shaped site was split into two, with a more traditional two storey dwelling at the front of the site, and a contemporary single storey dwelling at the rear accessed from its own new access drive.

After a challenging planning process approval was granted by a planning committee. As stipulated in the approval the houses had to achieve high environmental standards.
The dwellings achieved Level 4 under the Code for Sustainable Homes. This included the use of highly insulated and airtight building fabric with energy efficient fixtures and fittings and solar shading to the large and generous south facing windows.

A palette of hard-wearing materials including local brickwork and composite cladding board was selected to respect the character of the area and to ensure that the building would weather well with age.

The steepness of the site provided several challenges and the design minimised the need for excessive retaining walls and excavations. The difficult constraints of the site were also considered when ensuring building materials could be transported up the tight access road.