WESTBURY LANE

Westbury Lane, Buckhurst Hill

Set on the playground of a former school on a quiet residential street in Buckhurst Hill, we have proposed five identical, elegant three-bedroom houses, each with decent gardens to the rear, that comfortably take their place in the streetscape while also being confident in their contemporary elegance. The houses would only be a short walk to Buckhurst Hill station on the Central Line.

The site presented an opportunity to repair the street scene following the closure of the school. It seemed to us that there is an opportunity to forge well-considered contemporary domestic designs that advance that forward-thinking tradition. Our architecture features the gables, dormers and contrasting brick tones often found in older, well-loved prototypes on the same street. But our contemporary design ethos achieves a better outcome than thoughtlessly derivative pattern book houses.

The massing is broken down by subtle surface articulations and contrasting tones. The gabled first and roof storey elements sit on a ‘garden wall’ featuring hit and miss brickwork giving glimpses through plot depths and providing a ribbon-like connection between otherwise distinct houses.

We will soon submit the scheme to Epping Forrest District Council, and we anticipate a determination early next year.