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Caption: #5ofthebest SLIP HOUSE
Caption: It's that time of year. The time when you look back over the previous 12 months and mull on the highs and lows. So this seemed a great point to showcase some of my favourite houses from The Property Files in 2014. These five diverse homes caught my eye for their unique design and attention to detail, while each interior has its own distinct aesthetic and personality.
My first choice is Slip House, which was designed by architect Carl Turner, and which I featured on the Files back in February. Situated on a quiet, tree-lined street that borders Brixton and Clapham in London, Turner designed this house as both the office for his practice and his own home.
Slip House was marketed by The Modern House.
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Caption: THE MODERN HOUSE
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Caption: Slip House has a striking sculptural quality. The house is constructed from translucent glass with steel and concrete, and is arranged over three floors that are formed by three cantilevered or ‘slipped’ boxes.
The combination of the milky glass panels and the shape caused some locals to refer to the building as the “ice cube”. These boxes have been positioned to maximize light while minimizing any intrusion on the outlook of the neighbouring buildings.
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Caption: The use of polished concrete creates a calm and tactile backdrop for the furnishings, and Turner has accentuated this mood with the chalky palette of furniture and finishes, and with the super-sleek bespoke cabinetry in whitened birch ply.
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Caption: Slip House was awarded the prestigious RIBA Manser Medal in 2013 – which is presented to the best house in the UK. The building was described by the judges as an “exemplary low-energy home… (with) refined quality of spaces."
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Caption: This house also has serious eco credentials, having achieved a rare 5 rating in The Code for Sustainable Homes. The eco features include ‘energy piles’ that use a solar assisted ground source heat pump integrated into the pile foundations; PV-T panels that generate both the hot water and heating; mechanical ventilation with heat recovery within an airtight envelope including massive levels of insulation; and rain water harvesting. There’s even a wildflower roof outside one bedroom – which is possibly the last thing you expect to find in this bustling urban environment.
As the judges of the RIBA Manser Medal have said, “at no point do the sustainable ambitions of the project crowd out or dominate the refined quality of the spaces that are created.”
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Caption: The ground level was designed as a studio space for Turner's practice, and there’s also a small rear courtyard and a kitchen area here.
This level could easily be adapted to become part of the main house - by creating two additional bedrooms, say, or a bedroom and another reception room - or it could become a self-contained apartment with a two-storey house above. This flexibility was at the core of Turner’s approach to the design concept.
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Caption: EXTERNAL PHOTOGRAPHY
BY TIM CROCKER, via
THE MODERN HOUSE
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Caption: An “exemplary low-energy home… (with) refined quality of spaces”
~ Royal Institute of British Architects
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Caption: INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE MODERN HOUSE
Caption: Slip House was marketed by The Modern House: themodernhouse.net
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