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Tell us about yourself and your practice.
I've been in private practice for three years. Stuart and I have been together for six months in the practice of Owen and Vokes. We pursue projects where there is a clear intent to yield a special and unique outcome and we are very careful to confirm this in the early stages of our projects. I am interested in an architecture which yields a spatial and material response to the brief.
What was your brief for this job?
The client had seen some of my published work and also, at the time my own house was on the market, so they saw it during an open house. They had ambitions for a similar type of architecture, so they contacted me to discuss their own project. The initial brief was mostly pragmatic a list of rooms as well as a series of personal comments and ambitions for the project. The owners had prepared a series of images which evoked a sense of elegance and a relaxed occupation of the site.
How would you describe your design process for this project?
This project followed a process of close interaction during the early design stages. The project evolved in small, frequent steps so the owners were guiding key strategic decisions. This process was used because the site had very particular climatic and topographical characteristics yet it could yield quite a few fundamentally different programmes.
Why did you decide to use the A9S?
It's a fundamental building product. It's a product, which has been around for a long time and is used frequently. I guess in this case it was specified by default.
You've got six doors all hanging from one continuous rail. Why did you specify the track this way?
With a long hall containing 6 doors, all of which are visible from the whole upper level public rooms, I wanted to activate the whole wall to engage the private rooms with the public. Also, hanging all doors on one track helped in unifying the wall so the whole hall space gains a sense of detail rather than appearing like a static wall with punctuated by standard door openings.
Why did you decide to leave the track exposed?
Mainly just because it's simpler and more honest. Also to avoid future maintenance issues.
What do you think, if anything, A9S added to the project?
It allowed us to design door openings free of architraves, doorstops and hinges by enabling a continuous track along the whole length of the wall. When the doors are in the open position, the opening is flush and clear. This isn't an aesthetic choice, but rather a spatial one a door leaf free from the door reveals provides a pure opening, thereby creating a cleaner transition between rooms. It also made space planning easier no door swings to interfere with room interiors.
Was the product trade-friendly?
Yes it was. It's a standard product, using standard construction methods not much can go wrong.
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