Georgian Eco House
Harriet Paterson Design Practice
Travel Information
Design
- Original design
- Harriet Paterson Design Practice, 2016
The 2020 programme is now past. We will be launching the 2021 programme mid August 2021
BACKGROUND:
The House was bought from the previous owner, Dick Cooper by Interior Designer, Harriet Paterson and her partner, Warren Bramley, in December 2013.
In 2009, Mr Cooper, working in tandem with architect John Eger, had remodelled the whole house, creating a unique, individual eco house behind a Georgian façade.
In 2014, Harriet and Warren, inspired by the ideas of Mr Cooper, again approached John Eger to ask if he would help re-design the house to work as a family home for its new owners.
The idea for the re-design was to create a simple, responsible, connected, contemporary family home.
OVERVIEW:
The foundations of the house date back to 1787, however everything beyond the façade is contemporary.
The house is designed in an ‘L’ shape formation – active, living and entertaining spaces open out horizontally across the ground floor of the house and garden. The private, more peaceful retreat spaces spread vertically up to the top of the house.
The house is wired for connectivity, which means light, sound, heat, smoke detectors, TV’s are all controllable by the IPads (and IPhones) that are housed on the charging stations on the walls throughout the House.
GROUND FLOOR:
Opening across the ground floor are a series of rooms, which can be opened up and closed off as required.
The entrance hall becomes a reading room.
The open plan kitchen/diner meets the TV room with a glass retractable roof.
A curtain separates the kitchen from the TV room. Creating an intimate sitting area.
The whole ground floor is full of built in furniture and hidden storage making the most of the available space.
At the back of the house is a closed guest suite, featuring a sofa that unveils as a double bed, and a shower room with assisted access fittings.
UPPER FLOORS:
A spiral staircase takes you up to the first and second floors of the house.
Each landing has floor to ceiling storage designed specifically for the space by John Eger referencing a detailed inventory provided by Harriet and Warren.
The rooms upstairs are quiet rooms, relaxation spaces.
A bathroom with a freestanding bath, dimmable lights and a walk in shower.
A snug with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a bio fuel fire.
On the top floor are two bedrooms.
One is a nursery with a personalised hand drawn mural from artist Ed Boxall.
And the master bedroom to the rear has views of the St Giles church spire designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1844 and to the left is a contemporary comparison in Renzo Piano’s, Shard building.
Large skylights at the top of the house let light flood into each room and down the spiral stairwell.
The skylight in the master bedroom is retractable and opens up to expose the room to fresh air and the sky.
ECO CREDENTIALS:
The house is heated by an under-floor heating system fed by an air-source heat pump in the garden. This works like air-conditioning in reverse, bringing heat from the air via a heat exchanger into the house.
The glazing throughout the house gives good solar gain that, combined with good insulation, will reduce the demand for additional heating.
There is a 2700 litre underground tank in the garden, which stores rainwater, used to flush the lavatory, wash the clothes, and wash the dishes.
At the rear, on the first floor are solar photovoltaic panels that generate a useful amount of electricity.
The lighting throughout is LED.
THE GARDEN:
The ground floor of the house opens out onto a secluded walled garden.
Designed by Harriet + Warren in conjunction with Andy Steadman and built by Miles Raybould and his team from Belsize Gardens.
The garden is designed as a series of living spaces flowing from one another. A winding path leads you from a small seating area into an outdoor kitchen and up to a dining area under a pergola, beyond is an other sitting / play area. At night, the twinkling glow of outdoor lighting lights the way.
It was completed in March 2017 and is been lovingly maintained by Flora + Vanessa from Floral Aid
THE TEAM:
ARCHITECT: John Eger www.egerarchitects.com
INTERIOR DESIGN: Harriet Paterson www.harrietpaterson.com
GARDEN DESIGN + BUILD:
Miles Raybould from Belsize Gardens www.belsizegardens.com and Andy Steadman www.andystedmandesign.com
KEY DESIGN DETAILS
• The kitchen is by Sebastian Cox for Devol with Miele appliances.
• Sound throughout the house is Sonos. Each room has ceiling speakers that are connected to a central hub cupboard at the foot of the stairs.
• Lighting system is by Rako and moods are controllable from the remote switches on the walls and via the wall mounted iPads.
• The natural resin walls in the Bathroom and Kitchen are Senso. All the floors
+ joinery are sealed with Osmo wood oil.
• Stairwell and Exterior Eco Light from Factory Lux.
• The smoke detectors are Nest.
• Nursery Mural was magically created by artist Ed Boxall.
• The framing throughout the house was made by expert framer, Jamie Hawkins