New home

A family home designed around togetherness

A larger family home organised around shared life rather than simply additional rooms, with clear private zones and a generous social heart.

The brief was not more space. It was a bigger house in which the family would still come together.

Scope: Architecture, interior design, project leadership
Brief: A bigger house that still gathers
Status: Built

The story below follows the house from the first sketch, through the social plan at its centre, to the shell on site.

01
The brief

A larger plan gives everyone somewhere else to be

That is the risk in any bigger house, and it was the thing the clients wanted to design against. So the kitchen, dining and family living spaces form the social heart, and the routes from the private rooms bring people back through it.

Early design sketch of the garden elevation, showing the tall gable and the covered terrace — Early design The whole argument of the house is already here. A tall glazed gable marks the shared centre, and the covered terrace beside it is the same width as the room behind, so the social space simply continues outdoors.

02
The social heart

One room the whole house returns to

Family living area with a full-height glazed gable to the landscape, open to the dining room and kitchen beyond — Family living The gable is the tallest thing in the house and it belongs to the room everyone shares, not to the entrance. Dining sits in one sightline and the kitchen in another, so someone cooking, someone eating and someone reading are all in the same space without being in each other's way.

03
Two kitchens

The room where everyone gathers is not the room where the work happens

The principal kitchen stays part of the social space. A second preparation kitchen takes the heavier cooking, which is what allows the first one to stay open.

The kitchen during construction, with joinery carcasses in place and services still exposed — During construction Carcasses in, services still exposed. The opening on the right is the route through to the preparation kitchen, and the island is set out long enough to seat the family along one side rather than only to work at.

04
Private rooms

Places to separate, without separation becoming the default

The children's bedrooms are grouped, guest accommodation sits apart, and the principal suite has its own quieter part of the house. Upstairs there is a second family living space, a study and a media room.

Principal bedroom with a full-height oak headboard wall, glazing to the landscape and a seating corner — Principal suite The quiet end of the house. An oak wall carries the bed and the storage together so nothing else has to stand against the glazing, and the chair and bench mean the room works in the morning without anyone going downstairs.

05
Glass and shade

Shading designed in, rather than glass left unprotected

Large areas of glazing open the house to the landscape, with architectural shading rather than blinds doing the work, and the shaded edges double as sheltered places to sit outside.

Garden elevation showing the deep covered terrace beside the glazed gable — Garden elevation The roof carries past the glazing to make a room-sized loggia. It shades the tallest glass in the house and gives the social space an outdoor half.

Front elevation approached across lawn, with a recessed entrance and clipped hedging — Front elevation The street side gives very little away. Openings are deep-set and the entrance is recessed between two masses, so the generosity is kept for the garden.

06
On site

The same house, before any of it was finished

Lapunne remained responsible through construction, so the decisions made at design stage were the ones carried out on site.

The garden elevation during construction, with the gable framed and glazing installed — Garden side, under construction The gable and the loggia go up together, which is what keeps the two reading as one move rather than as a roof with a canopy added.

The front of the house during construction, brickwork complete and grounds not yet landscaped — Arrival side, under construction Shell complete, ground still open. The restraint of the front elevation is easiest to read at this stage, before planting softens it.

07
Completed

Approached across the lawn

The completed house seen from the approach in evening light, with the entrance canopy and paved path — Completed The path arrives under the canopy rather than at a front door on a facade, and the low wing on the left holds the quiet rooms. From here the house reads as one long horizontal, with the tall shared room kept entirely for the garden side.

08
Outcome

A bigger house that still gathers, because the plan makes the shared room the place everyone passes through rather than a room they have to choose.

Services: Architecture · Interior design · Project leadership
Key moves: Social heart, second preparation kitchen, grouped bedrooms, shaded glazing

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