Eckington House is a new home for a close-knit family on an amazing site at the edge of Sheffield’s green belt.
The design arose through an in depth analysis of both the site and the wider area, seeking to contribute to the urban fabric as well as continue the local tradition for highly crafted detached dwellings. On what was previously an open field between the village centre and green belt farmland, CE+CA delivered a high quality contemporary home.
Material quality plays an important part in the identity of the home both inside and out.
The house is conceived as a collection of buildings, evolved over time and derived from the surrounding farmstead typologies. It comprises three parts; a low service element and entrance, the main house element – inspired by nearby barn topologies – and a secondary subservient annex. These three elements are given a distinct material form that help to break down the mass of the building. The front of the house is bound behind a beautiful stone wall that envelopes a ‘cottage’ element to the south. The building becomes more transparent and fluid as it moves from street to garden. Its position was carefully placed in the North West corner of the site, ensuring it continues to feel like a predominantly open green space, and that the building cannot be read from further afield due to the screening by existing surrounding buildings and vegetation.
The surrounding village has a rich mixture of buildings and landscapes. The area is characterised by stone walls that are a reflection of its rural heritage. These walls, of varying ages and constructions, offered a material palette for the house to form a relationship between the new and the old in the Special Character Area.
Material quality plays an important part in the identity of the home both inside and out. Warm stone gives way to a timber lined entrance lobby. Brick and zinc cladding provide a crispness of detailing to the main house. Large areas of glazing frames views over the manicured lawns beyond. A planted roof over the service element and entrance block recognises and maintains some of the ecological value of the original site.
