The Bunker is a proposed new dwelling for us. Approved planning consent was gained under ‘paragraph 55 exception’ whereby exception to normal planning policy allows for a ‘truly outstanding design reflecting the high standards in architecture’. The design was executed through the historic enablement argument of retaining and conserving the WWII Radar Bunker. The initial starting point for the vision of the project is to develop a language for the design that responds to the Undercliff that is a special part of the island creating dynamic shifts and protrusions of strata, land movement and a feeling of ancient powerful earth energy – Why not consider a period in time – WWII. The whole coast would have been heavily militarized whereby the land was acquisitioned by the war department for the strategic positioning of the Radar Bunker and ancillary buildings. We can imagine the visual aesthetic of secrecy, danger and an important role for the Bunker to the war effort. To unfold the narrative of the landscape is to design the new building…. Today the bunker sits in the landscape with the concrete blast wall exposed and strikingly monumental on its plateau connecting abstractly with the surrounding rock formation. The new building connects horizontally to the bunker conceived to extend the monumentalism by taking the perceived volume of the bunker and doubling it whilst floating it above the landscape under a continuous earth roof. The composition of the new building extends the idea of the abstract in the landscape by creating a juxtaposition to the simpler bunker form by a developed language of perforated camouflage fins that represent the historic context of the camouflage mesh whilst providing a subtle play of light to the exterior form and the harmony of the occupants. The building comprises of three bedrooms, bathrooms and study on an upper storey that cantilevers over the main living area on ground floor that is split level using the natural slope of the site. The code that sets the entrance is bunker like hidden under a sloping grass bank that acts as undercroft and serving the allusion and ‘abstract’ that the earth is floating in mid air. There are no windows to the raised street scene – just moving earth. The 3.2m glass walls that open up in geometry and underpin the underbelly of the upper floor storey create a delicate transition between the inside and framed views created by the overhang to the views of the English channel – Cozy, private and cool in the summer. The aim of the home is to be semi off grid by designing to passivhaus standards using high levels of thermal insulation, air tight construction achieved through a Cross Laminate timber construction. It does incorporate its own water supply together with PV and Solar Panels mounted discreetly into the earth bank of the roof as a kind of ha-ha providing hot water and electricity to the Power Wall storage battery. Other renewals will be Biomass and Heat recovery. Finally the doors and windows will be using a new prototype system developed by Lincoln. The system will have very narrow sight line and be completely impervious to the marine location through its revolutionary composite material specification and can be personalized through CNC technology to be a decorative sculptural element to the house – not a mere window or door. Please check out up and coming News/blog pages for further updates on this new product coming forward in 2017. CGI’s by SDMVisuals.co.ukPhotography by juilianwinslow.com
