We have recently completed a large new home for a private client on the south coast of England, in collaboration with Vincent Van Duysen Architects (VVDA). It is not possible to publish images at this time, however we wanted to share something of the experience of delivering a project of this ambition and complexity, and what it has meant for our practice.
Our clients purchased an incomplete property for which NUA had previously been the technical architect. They approached VVDA in Antwerp to design the completion of the project. VVDA subsequently invited NUA to collaborate as technical architect, recognising our previous involvement with the property and our knowledge of the existing incomplete buildings.
The property comprises a large single-level house, a separate building containing offices, gym and car garage, as well as a workshop building and a boathouse.
We collaborated closely with VVDA to develop their design into detailed information for pricing, construction, planning and building approvals, and remained involved throughout the construction process, attending site weekly.
Stonewoods Builders were the main contractor, with whom we also worked closely over the 30-month period from the commencement of design through to the recent completion.
Working alongside a practice with the vision and rigour of VVDA has been an enormously rewarding experience for us. Their approach to materiality and detail is exceptionally demanding, and the project involved a close dialogue between concept, resolution and construction.
The project combines natural materials including oak and cedar, limestone and zinc, hand-made clay bricks, stainless steel and bronze, all executed to an extraordinary level of precision at both large and minute scales. Every piece of cedar cladding, stone flooring and oak wall panelling was individually detailed and set out to achieve precise alignments at every junction. Doors are lined with oak or lightweight aluminium honeycomb-backed stone, basins and baths are carved from solid blocks. Bespoke bronze ironmongery was created for every door.
The delivery of all of this by Stonewoods and their specialist teams was exceptional. With almost nothing on the project being off-the-shelf, every element was discussed, drawn, mocked-up, tested, adjusted and ultimately manufactured and installed.
It has been a real pleasure to be part of that process — working with VVDA, Stonewoods and the many specialist makers involved to navigate the challenges, find solutions and make things that simply had not been made before. That process of collaboration, with a shared commitment to getting every detail right, is what has made the project such a rewarding one for us. It has been an unusually collaborative project, and one of which we are incredibly proud.