PALMERSTON ROAD

PALMERSTON ROAD, BUCKHURST HILL, ESSEX

We have submitted plans for a pair of high-quality family dwellings which set out to repair the street scene along a busy route in Essex.

Our proposals represent a sensitive and contextual response to the neighbouring locally listed Victorian villas. Rather than directly imitating these fine houses we have developed a refined and simplified architectural language, including flush precast arches and piers set between tonally consistent stock brickwork.

The scale and form have been well considered with respect to the silhouettes of the neighbouring buildings, with prominent front facing gables, ground floor projected canted bay windows and arched front entrances.

We feel that decorative elements found on older buildings shouldn’t be mindlessly copied but used as a springboard for a distinctive contemporary architectural approach that restores some of the texture and depth frequently lost in modern architecture – the quarter turned brickwork below the gables and textured brickwork onto the canted bays are good examples of this.

These moves ensure that our proposals will strike the right balance between blending with the older neighbouring buildings and having a particular character of their own.