ABA01 Semi-detached houses (Accordia), UK

Inspired by the adjacent array of ‘eccentric villas’ along Brooklands Avenue, the houses provide an open plan layout with internal spaces varying in height and orientation within an envelope defined by a high density, sustainable masterplan by Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects.

Split down the middle to create a top lit triple height atrium and stair hall, the front and rear are offset to create a split level and so that the living room becomes a 4.5m high space. The ground floor was conceived as an open plan ‘landscape’ with large glazed areas opening onto outdoor patios and terraces.

The building is primarily clad in yellow stock brick with openings freely placed in the elevations. The front and back facades have projecting porticoes to provide shading for the large areas of south facing glazing and to create ‘blinkers’ to reduce overlooking and increase privacy. To the rear of the houses, located across private courtyard gardens, are smaller two storey mews buildings which are also under the ownership of the main house.

The mews houses contain a garage at ground floor level with self-contained guest accommodation at first floor level. A long balcony to the rear of the mews houses forms a connection back to the main house. Both the main houses and guesthouses are finished with standing seam copper roofs, which connect the houses back to a longstanding tradition of copper architecture in Cambridge.

The curves of the main house roofs are set out to closely follow a restrictive covenant that limited the height of houses to 3 and half storeys at the front of the houses. Rather than employing a set back attic level with an inaccessible flat roof, ABA chose to slope and curve the roof form to create a highly expressive and unusual family room with a fireplace, rooflights and a wall of glass open to the sky.

The Accordia project was the Overall Winner of the 2006 Housing Design Awards and the 2006 National Homebuilder Award.