The Muray House in Haslemere, Surrey was designed for the Muray family by John Pardey Architects. The clients were approaching retirement and had struggled to find a suitable contemporary home or building plot in the area and came up with the idea of building in the back garden of their existing red brick victorian home using the sale proceeds to help fund the build.

The brief for the new house included a generous kitchen / living / dining space opening onto a sunny courtyard garden, a master bedroom suite, accommodation for visiting children and grandchildren, a study, a media room and ample off-street parking. Key to unlocking the site was the relocation of an existing three bay oak framed carport. The Carport was carefully dismantled, reduced to two bays and rebuilt closer to the existing house in order to form an access way to one side.

The site rises significantly towards the rear corner and in order to achieve a comfortable relationship between new and old a large amount of soil was removed and retaining walls constructed on 2 sides. The new house forms an L-shape with single storey living element to the south, and two storey bedroom element to the west. Both wings facing a secluded courtyard garden of rectangular brick terraces and informal planting. A pale brick wraps the house on 3 sides with the elevations onto the courtyard fully glazed. Here, iroko louvres provide a degree of privacy and reduce solar gain. In the bedroom wing windows are fixed, doors and vent panels are iroko.

The south facing living room has large sliding glass doors which open onto the courtyard. Windows are Schuco, ppc aluminium in mid grey frames with facia in RAL 7043. The brick is Caprice Fuji / Bromo blend in UK format which contrasts with the local red brick and echos the colour of local Bargate stone. The ground floor finish is porcelain tile, the first floor engineered oak.

An iroko front door opens into a a double height entrance hall flanked by a wall of brick. Opposite the front door a glazed wall and door reveal a small rear courtyard formed in brick with brick steps giving access to the higher ground behind the house. A white ppc steel stair with glass balustrade rises to the first floor. High level clerestory glazing provides ample daylight and prevents overlooking. A brick portal leads to the living wing to the north of the site.

In the north east corner facing the rear courtyard is a study bedroom with wine store and large south facing window. Between this and the hand built kitchen is plant, utility room and built in storage. Rooflights provide additional light and ventilation. A brick chimney with wood burning stove lies at the far end of the living space. Clerestory windows provide north light and cross ventilation. The sedum roof of the living wing forms an overhang to reduce solar gain and a sheltered covered route to the entrance. The roof sails over a carport and garden store where a rolling entrance gate clad in iroko secures the site.

Project Details

Client: Penny & Roger Muray

GIA: 265m2

Contract Value: £1.1M

Status: Completed 2020

Visualisations: David Schnabel

Design Team

Design: John Pardey Architects

Project Architect: Richard Butler (to summer 2020)

Structure: Built Engineers

Arboriculturalist: Alderwood Consulting

Landscape: Nick Dexter Studio

QS: APS Associates

Building Control: Assent

SAP: Energist

Contractors

Contractor: Jaques Construction

Below ground waterproofing: Stonehouse Property Care Ltd

Kitchen & Joinery: Kraftwork

Roof: Danosa

Suppliers

Brick: The Bespoke Brick Company

Steelwork: Steelo

Glazing: Heath Windows

Floor tiles: Ceramic Solutions Ltd

Wood floor: Reeve Wood

Bathrooms: The Big Bath Company