The Hitman-Eddie Country House is planned around a central courtyard, the heart of the house that holds together the various dimensions of family life. The courtyard is an external room that feeds the surrounding enclosures with light, air and vitality and itself becomes an extension of these internal spaces. The three sides of the courtyard contain the major elements of the building, the formal wing, the kitchen wing, and the children's wing. The fourth side of the courtyard is open to nature providing magnificent views from all the internal accommodation. A small pool in the courtyard, symbolic of life and growth, feeds a stream that runs into the landscaping through a series of irregular pools.

The house sits on the edge of a natural ridge giving both the house and ridge significance. The ridge provides shelter to both a walled garden and to the level grounds of the tennis and croquet lawns overlooked by the formal rooms of the house. The kitchen rooms are arranged in the eastern wing of the house and have the strongest connection with the courtyard. The children's wing steps out over the ridge providing an opportunity for a double height lounge overlooked by an internal balcony.

As with the building, the landscape design is determined by the site's strong characteristics. From the courtyard, paths and a water channel spread into the landscape utilising the sloping site. The central meadow is criss-crossed with gently sloping paths linking its two edges. The southern edge, with its native woodland and wild flower meadows, is informal contrasted by a more orderly northern edge. Water channelled from the courtyard flows down the slope in a series of small cascades, forming an axis for a series of terraces and pools that reflect and enhance the views.

The children's wing enjoys a series of private gardens on the northern boundary, one for each bedroom. The gardens are linked by a path to a large outdoor social space sheltered by a pergola.The kitchen wing has its own vegetable garden and orchard that is bounded by a walls and trees.

The estate is accessed from the south west by a drive that curves past a gate house and through an avenue of trees.The tennis court and croquet lawn can be glimpsed through the trees together with the southern and eastern aspects of the house before the drive passes through a gateway in a tall hedge, revealing the arrival courtyard and the entrance to the house.

The building's posture has been designed to make use of passive energy gains, natural lighting and ventilation. Local natural materials are used wherever possible; rammed earth walls, stone and timber flooring and turf roofs with a timber structure.

Project Team

Frank Lyons
Tony Aldrich
Alicja Andreasik
Mike Westley

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info@humanearchitecture.com

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