A just lately accomplished household dwelling in Cheshire East has been named each the RIBA North West Award winner and the area’s Constructing of the Yr for 2025.
The venture, often called Vestige and designed by Smith Younger Architects, stands on the location of a deteriorating Edwardian home and incorporates parts of the unique construction into a brand new structure.
What started as a standard refurbishment developed right into a extra complete design strategy, formed by issues of reuse, adaptability and home scale.
We take a tour by way of the award-winning self-build property.
Designed to face out
From the road, Vestige follows the rooflines and proportions of its Edwardian neighbours, utilizing acquainted tones and kinds.
A rendered brick base and timber-clad higher storey type a up to date elevation whereas sustaining a quiet presence. The architects reused the unique foundations and integrated recycled constructing supplies.
“The strong base of the bottom flooring is in rough-rendered bricks salvaged from a smaller home that used to take a seat on the location,” the Smith Younger Architects defined.
Convey your dream dwelling to life with professional recommendation, the right way to guides and design inspiration. Join our publication and get two free tickets to a Homebuilding & Renovating Present close to you.
“The unique foundations of this constructing have been additionally reused, lowering the carbon footprint and saving cash.”
A masterclass in considerate space-making
Picture 1 of 3
Internally, the structure is structured to create a spread of spatial experiences inside a compact footprint. A double-height entrance corridor leads right into a collection of rooms that shift in scale and performance.
“The rooms are well-proportioned, and the general structure rigorously devised to attain a better sense of area and comprise a variety of experiences, belying the constructing’s dimension,” the architects word.
The doorway corridor features a built-in bench, whereas a stair lined in timber connects the degrees of the house.
“From the double-height top-lit entrance corridor, vast sufficient to accommodate a bench to take a seat on when placing in your sneakers, to the timber-lined stair detailed with all of the care of a jewelry field, there’s a shock round each nook,” they add.
A walled courtyard sits behind the entrance façade, offering outside area that’s sheltered from the road.
“The jury have been pleasantly bowled over by the courtyard backyard that’s hidden behind a wall and fence to the entrance of the home”, mentioned the architects.
Recycling, resourcefulness and the nine-square grid plan
Picture 1 of 3
The design is knowledgeable by a reinterpretation of the nine-square grid, offering construction whereas permitting flexibility within the structure.
“The venture advanced right into a journey of discovery and adaptation, an investigation into repurposing, recycling and resourcefulness,” mentioned the architects.
The architects mentioned the “spatial composition was straight influenced by the nine-square grid”, which is a traditional architectural structure primarily based on dividing a flooring plan right into a 3×3 grid, creating 9 equal squares.
The ensuing scheme applies a proper self-discipline whereas accommodating diversified features and refined transitions between areas. Built-in joinery, hidden storage and sliding panels are employed all through to make the house greater as you journey all through.
Vestige presents one potential response to the query of how suburban houses may evolve – balancing reuse with invention and order with adaptability.
