Screen House

The smallish site, with almost square proportions, provided a challenge for a client with high aspirations for their future dwelling. At Lara, our approach was to find an innovative solution for the brand new build; the key move for this project was to locate the main volume of the house at the site’s southern boundary. This volume area is to contain the main living spaces at ground floor and the private family rooms upstairs.

Visibility into neighbouring interiors and private open areas had to be mitigated, and the use of breeze blocks with a custom-designed perforation provides the perfect solution. Transparent and frosted-glass inserts, strategically located, provide visual protection for the neighbouring dwellings. The perforated and decorative wall is the main outer skin of the house, acting as a screen, whilst providing both transparency and access to warm, natural light.

The kitchen block is a smaller and more tactile element, clad in timber as a contrast to the main building block. Set back from the street, it articulates the project’s street frontage response to adapt to its neighbouring buildings and the street’s heritage character.