Design a house and studio for a chosen artist within the seclusion of the Seaton Park walled garden in relation to the artist’s requirements. It was essential throughout, the design, refinement and presentation that the context was considered as it had a direct impact on how the project was driven. Separation between public and private exists on site and stands as a semi-public space. The design brief specifies a two-bedroom house with room for storage, utility room and ventilated storage for bikes etc, and ensuite must be included for the Master bedroom and most importantly, a studio space. Fine consideration was implemented to how the artist works in the studio space and what she needed.
Brief
The public will continue to have access through all three of the gardens. The house and studio design will respond sensitively to the existing walled gardens, enhancing and/or positively transforming the character of the garden. The principle material will be exposed brickwork The footprint of the building should not exceed 120 square metres.
Jayne Stokes is an experienced painter that has a consistent style of intricate paintings within a small canvas, occasionally matchbox-size to around A5. She produces large exhibitions of her work on a wall (which must be considered in the design of her studio). Her type of paintings relies on the study of reality and absence of quick snapshots of life on a digital format, which brings about the idea that influence and how to position the studio can highly amplify this atmosphere.
We made contact with the artist and asked her preference and advice on how to prepare her spaces tailored to her, such as how much she required natural light for her work (dictating where best to position the studio). We also asked broader preferences such as ecological aspect to consider, as well as how she personally would feel working in the site.
The Seaton Park Walled Garden was an interesting site to work with due to its semi-public nature. The private residential dwelling that is to be placed at the site will be passed by public users frequently. Tall walls, public space and abundant, overgrowing shrubbery give a challenging dynamic to incorporate a building comfortably within the environment. A survey of the site indicated low to mid footfall in comparison of the wider park, is close to a car park.
I decided to prioritise the hierarchy of vertical direction and work with a contrast of tower and submerged space to address sun, privacy and view aspects of the location. Three floors are evident, with the ground floor entry space separating a working area above and a living space below. A large courtyard garden allows light to enter the living spaces along its border whilst maintaining the element of privacy.
A perforated ground floor space is used as a transition space between two aspects of the client's life and allows for a physical separation of space and atmosphere. The office within the tower reaches above the walls and allows for a vast view of the park and the rest of Aberdeen (facing south). The building's lower floor prioritises the bedrooms facing east for the morning sun.
The design works with reflection to bring in light. In order to maximise solar gain, a stream of water sits against fenestration to allow light reflection to penetrate the backs of areas. In addition, reflection tunnels are fitted along the bedroom corridor to bring natural light from above without reliance of artificial lighting.
The exterior of the building uses worn brickwork cladding that compliments the masonry construction of the surrounding gardens. On the ground floor, it utilises perforation to imply a lighter structure at eye level.
