Marsh Hill
by Mole Architects
Client Private
Awards RIBA East Award 2017
This is a contemporary house making a bold architectural statement on a sensitive site overlooking the River Alde estuary in Suffolk.
The house is linear in form with a sweeping zinc roof that twists and rises from east to west. The highest point of the roof is seen at arrival dropping as the land rises at the entrance lobby thereby giving a welcoming and low scale domestic entry within the north wall. The lobby opens onto a double height living room that immediately reveals extensive views of the estuary. This is the heart of the house off which all other rooms are found. The room is modestly finished in painted brick and plaster with an exposed timber roof and brick flooring, contrasting with the more highly finished intimate private spaces and bedrooms which are panel lined and have built-in furniture. To the west there is a studio and beyond that a garden room that is accessed from the outside, though still contained under the sweeping roof.
Externally the house is of painted brick that is dominant on the north entrance elevation with interest created by projecting brickwork detailing - appropriately intimate on the entrance elevation. In contrast the southern elevation is dominated by a triangular zinc clad wall that crowns the brick plinth and wraps down from the roof and around a balcony projecting from the master bedroom. It has a scale commensurate with the wider landscape.
Boldly detailed this house makes a distinctive contribution to the Suffolk landscape.
Contractor Willow Builders
Quantity Surveyor / Cost Consultant 3G Construction Consultants Ltd
Structural Engineers Smith and Wallwork
Landscape Architects Todd Longstaffe-Gowan Landscape Design
Lighting Design Michael Grubb Studio
Interior Design Interior Couture
