Lockington

At Lockington we worked with our client to design a single dwelling with a garage to the rear as a long term family home. The proposal was designed to have a positive contribution to Lockington and its Conservation Area, forming a natural infill on the previously undeveloped plot. The site itself is located within an otherwise built-up village frontage on Thorpe road. Planning approval had been obtained by the vendors of the plot but our client was keen to improve the initial design and so we prepared an application to vary the approved scheme.

Tumbling Gables formed from York Handmade bricks.

The house and garage are of a traditional, vernacular design with a front façade reflecting nearby properties on Thorpe road and elsewhere in Lockington. In order to maintain and enhance the Conservation Area’s character and appearance the materials proposed for the property were chosen carefully: York Handmade bricks forming tumbling gables, a plinth, dentil and string course; William Blyth Ltd ‘Barco’ antique handmade clay pantiles; Painted timber windows – traditional vertical sliding sash and cases. The brick work was laid in Flemish bond with a lime mortar.

The traditional appearance of the dwelling and its craft details were complemented by a range of measures to make the house extremely efficient. Fabric efficiencies were the primary approach – ensuring solar gain was optimised, insulation levels are high and air tightness is good. The property also features various green technologies such as solar thermal panels, photovoltaic panels feeding Solax batteries, electric car charging points, rainwater harvesting and a ground source heat pump fed from a bore hole system.

Landscaping of the plot was crucial in order to make the house fit into the village and blend with the open countryside to the rear of the house. Sarah Murch of Ellicar Gardens designed and installed the landscaping, making a start before the house was constructed so that by the time the clients moved in, the planting was well established. The landscape design has already won a BALI National Landscape Award.