Surbiton Springs

Surbiton Springs – Contemporary House Referencing Mock Tudor

• Location: Surbiton, Surrey
• Status: Completed 2019
• Client: Private
• Contractor: Wadey Builders
• Structural Engineers: Structure Workshop
• Photography: Johan Dehlin
• Team: Percy Weston, Tom Surman, Hilton Murrell, Julia Cramer, Laura Micheli

Concept and Context

Surbiton Springs is a new 250 sqm detached house that subtly references its suburban vernacular neighbours while establishing a carefully considered relationship with its surroundings. The project began with the ambition to create a building that appears almost traditional at first glance, but reveals itself, on closer inspection, to be thoroughly contemporary.

Structure and Exterior Expression

The exterior reinterprets the mock-Tudor language common in the area through an exposed steel frame. The strength of this exoskeletal structure allows the members to be refined into an elegant grid, enabling large column-free internal spaces. This rigid frame is paired with slurried brick infill panels, introducing texture and softness while maintaining a connection to the local vernacular.

Vernacular and Industrial References

The design brings together an unlikely combination of references from surburban mock-Tudor, to industrial warehouses and the modernist villas of Palm Springs. For example, the fenestration draws on traditional leaded windows, enlarged to form large steel-framed openings. The white exterior continues a lineage of modern white Art Deco buildings in the area, including the notable nearby Surbiton station, which served as a key reference throughout the design and delivery process.

Spatial Strategy

The client brief called for a house that combined industrial simplicity with a more nuanced spatial arrangement than a typical open-plan layout. The resulting plan offers a range of scales, from smaller, more intimate rooms such as the study to the larger living and dining spaces. Ground floor rooms are arranged as a series of cellular spaces that can open up into a connected enfilade when required.

Sequence and Movement

Movement through the house is designed as a sequence of contrasting spatial experiences. Entry is via a triple-height hall, conceived as an intermediary space akin to an internal courtyard, with a deliberately restrained material palette of exposed blockwork and rough screed.
From this volume, the route compresses beneath the stair into a lower, darker space defined by a heavy concrete soffit. Beyond, the living room opens out dramatically, with increased ceiling height and panoramic views to the garden, creating a clear transition from compression to expansiveness.

Materiality and Atmosphere

Within the main living areas, the palette softens, with timber flooring and plastered walls providing warmth against the steel roof and floor decks. The exposed decks introduce texture and act as a contemporary interpretation of traditional timber beams.
Bedrooms and bathrooms are arranged within the generous 1st floor ‘loft’ space, rising to 5 metres in height and lit primarily from above, giving the rooms a calm, almost ecclesiastical quality. The principal bedroom opens onto a south-facing covered balcony, offering a sheltered outdoor space throughout the year.

Recognition

The project was the recipient of 3 architectural awards including a RIBA National Award and was also shortlisted for RIBA House of the Year, where it featured on Channel 4.