The Glade
Award-Winning New Build Family Home
Winner of the Guernsey Design Awards 2018, 'Residential New Build' category, The Glade is an energy-efficient and sustainable family home built on a densely planted site within St Peter Port. The building was designed to minimise overlooking and maximise natural light and solar gain, whilst avoiding the numerous root protection areas of the surrounding trees and maintaining a footprint proportionate to the previous development on site.
A natural palette was selected throughout. Local materials and fabrication demonstrate the skillset and workmanship we have on island, and the quality of build that can be achieved within a budget.
The building is sunk into the topography of the site, within a clearing in the trees, hence the name 'The Glade'. A large basement utilises existing excavation, with the ground floor enclosed in Guernsey granite reclaimed from the site. Highlights of natural lime render line openings cut into the overall footprint to form the entrance porch and carport.
A steel frame allows the larger first floor to cantilever over the ground floor, but also eliminates structural support from the corners of the building. Frameless glazed corners dissolve into the landscape allowing the dwelling to blend with its surroundings, but also share it with the internal spaces.
The spacial arrangement provides open plan living, maintaining vertical connection and a direct relationship to the outside, whilst offering enclosed intimate pockets. Internally natural tones have been chosen, a skin of locally reclaimed brick is coated with lime slurry, raw pigment plasters line the walls, with grey limestone to the floors and bespoke oak joinery. Machined brass fixtures and fitting provide a tactile contrast to the points of interaction.
A living wall of over 4000 plants wraps the eastern mass of the building, camouflaging the building within the surrounding tree canopy and providing an acoustic and pollution buffer to the surrounding urban context. The building at a macro scale reflects the character of the overall site; enclosed on all sides by high granite walls with a mature canopy of vegetation above.
Before
After
Testimonials For The Glade
'Skilfully designed to fit into it's constrained site. The care, precision and attention to detail has lifted this simple rational form and turned it into a thing of beauty and elegance. It is clear that the architect and builder had a close synergy to be able to produce a building of such quality and clarity. This is a wonderful example of contemporary local architecture.'
Judges of the Guernsey Design Awards.