K House
Location:
Guernsey Channel Islands
Client:
Private
Structural Engineer:
Babbé McCathie Consulting Engineers
Main Contractor:
Mark Le Prevost
Photographer:
Andy Matthews
Deep in the heart of Guernsey’s rural parish St. Savior, the K-House can be found down a narrow lane, overlooking fields in the south west of the island. The local clients commissioned SOUP Architects to design their ‘dream’ home on the site of a former greenhouse. The context is rural, so the exterior of the house reflects a rural barn typology. Internally however, the house was intended to be clean, contemporary, and be loaded with cutting-edge technology. The duality of such a carefully ‘crafted’ home, makes this project so special.
Large format, high performance glazing extends the living space into a courtyard, taking advantage of the house orientation to capture the light and heat from the afternoon sun. Blending these ground floor spaces together extends the functions of the house during the long Guernsey summers. Internally, simple and traditional materials were carefully selected for their outstanding quality and their ability to be used in a modern way. For example, blue granite was cut into contemporary square blocks to form the backdrop for the kitchen, coloured plaster has been painstakingly polished on feature walls highlighting the stairs, and the consistent use of fitted oak joinery items throughout the house harmoniously ties all the rooms together. In many ways the design of the house demanded much more from the builders, challenging them to experiment with innovative ways of cutting, finishing and polishing.
Behind the clean lines and careful detailing, the house is packed with cutting edge technology. A combination of air-source heat pumps, air-conditioning units, heat recovery units, solar thermal heat collectors and smart LED scene setting lights, all ensure the house is easy and cost effective to run, and a most importantly a comfortable home.
Large format, high performance glazing extends the living space into a courtyard, taking advantage of the house orientation to capture the light and heat from the afternoon sun. Blending these ground floor spaces together extends the functions of the house during the long Guernsey summers. Internally, simple and traditional materials were carefully selected for their outstanding quality and their ability to be used in a modern way. For example, blue granite was cut into contemporary square blocks to form the backdrop for the kitchen, coloured plaster has been painstakingly polished on feature walls highlighting the stairs, and the consistent use of fitted oak joinery items throughout the house harmoniously ties all the rooms together. In many ways the design of the house demanded much more from the builders, challenging them to experiment with innovative ways of cutting, finishing and polishing.
Behind the clean lines and careful detailing, the house is packed with cutting edge technology. A combination of air-source heat pumps, air-conditioning units, heat recovery units, solar thermal heat collectors and smart LED scene setting lights, all ensure the house is easy and cost effective to run, and a most importantly a comfortable home.
