the 4 bedroom family home draws on the adjacent royal botanic gardens and original vernacular buildings for guidance. the weathering steel is perforated with an interpretation of the leaf pattern of a mature tree, creating softly dappled shadows in the spaces below. externally the stippled steel forms are both contemporary and fitting for the conservation area, softened by the retained brick walls. in this way the lines between traditional and Modern, conservative and contemporary, are blurred. the house is designed to be zero maintenance and carbon neutral.
“it is very exciting to follow the success of martello tower y with another gentle contemporary insertion into the precious historical townscape of kew – The strong roofscape forms and textured steel nestle the design into the eclectic street scape of historical buildings – the idea was to interpret the vernacular rather than imposing a new language”. stuart piercy, director, piercy conner
"the house will grow from its own workshop planted in the basement and use digital fabrication to create a house with a precision that contrasts the rugged brickwork shell and a level of craft appropriate to both the context and the client’s aspirations." peter jennings, project architect, piercy conner
“jo & I have worked professionally for fifteen years in design & construction and want to channel our knowledge into creating a beautiful contemporary home. we have planning for a fantastic building which I am committed making using my expertise in digital fabrication in collaboration with piercy conner. we have created a blog www.treehousekew.blogspot.com to keep our neighbours up to date with progress!” tim & jo lucas, clients for kew house
section showing the south wing nestled into the ground by 1m. A tree will grow through all the levels of the house allowing you to enjoy & access the canopy a reference to Enid Blyton’s ‘Magic Faraway Tree’ © 2011 Piercy Conner
Weathering steel shell behind retained brick walls – Palette based on the shifting colours of Kew © 2011 Piercy Conner
Simple plan form with two wings and a bridge link ,the shadow describes the strong roofscape © 2011 Piercy Conner
mock up of water jet cut perforated oiled weathering steel skin producing dappled interior light © 2011 Piercy Conner
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