Went back to Starfall Farm today – really please to see how its being occupied. The concrete worktop in the kitchen is ageing beautifully
Archives for the month of: March, 2012
Been snagging this afternoon here – 3/4 handed over, and contractor leaving site next week
We’ve been clearing the bramble in the woods to the north west of the house making it possible to see the building from this perspective almost for the first time. Planning vegetable beds here – and interestingly, underneath all the bramble are redcurrant and gooseberry shoots from way back, so the ground here has been used for cultivation before.
The chaotic aftermath of feeding small children… My vision for a house (influenced by Richard Leplastrier and Rural Studio) was always one where kids could rattle around inside a robust shed that could take any amount of chaos, instead of a prim and pristine modernist box. In a way, it’s kind of worked, but could be a bit more robust. There’s a great quality of light at this time of year, in the evenings.
Finally been told by the contractor this is going to be finished and handed over next week.
AA Design and Make review with guests of this year’s project, and below, review of the scheme in Buro happold’s offices
The home straight – gutters going in this week, scaffold strip next week, and then it’s ready for use.
Final piece of the jigsaw – the curved stair – going in to Stillpoint just before the client moved in today.
Went back to the Archangel recently for a friend’s birthday, for the first time for a while. Still looking good, although there’s a lot in the detail that I wish we’d done differently. I was most distressed by the nosings on the mild steel stair which someone had added – visible in this picture, and also a steel handrail on top of the glass which I hated. I enjoyed doing the project though, and reminded me how interesting conservation type work can be. I remember asking Peter Salter once why he was doing a conservation course, and he said (obviously) ‘Because I’m interested in materials…’ which made me realise how locked in one particular mindset I was. This space in the photos was on the ground floor (not visible below 2 floors of mezzanines here) a skittles alley with a false ceiling and all the spaces visible in the photographs were inaccessible except for pigeons for the last 50 years. The Archangel has just been bought by a pub chain, and I wonder whether its rather eccentric charm will be retained.
The final stretch now – only the internal gutters to do, which have been sourced. The Design and Make students will be using the building after Easter to fabricate this year’s project – a student house.
pierstaylor 