Makes the mundane joyful
Hall McKnight for private client
Budget: Undisclosed
GIA: 400m2
This family home is arranged as a cluster of three mono-pitched red brick and clay tile volumes on a steeply sloping site overlooking a golf course and on to the hills beyond. Dialogue between the architect and client produced a split-level home that not only fully meets the needs of its family but makes the mundane joyful. Built for a large growing family, the design embodies the idea that needs change and that its teenagers might want to live a more autonomous life within it.
From the street the house appears as just two volumes, the complexity only revealed on entering. Overall the composition is delightfully balanced and carefully crafted – no surprise coming from the architect of Belfast’s Mac – in fact the brick and flush glazing system was the same as the one used there.
With the judges noting that the design was reminiscent of Stirling and Gowan’s work, the architect has produced a home that is internally full of energy and vitality and elegantly sits on its site, looking out to the city and hills beyond.
See other winners in the RIBA Regional Awards 2015 – Northern Ireland