Grange Road Villas: The Balance of Lightness and Weight in Architecture

This house at Bishopsgate Road is an elegant dialectic of monolithic and delicate architectural elements. Overall, the expression of the house is a response to the client’s affinity for modern art. Purity is the order of the day and the entire composition forms an unadulterated and clean landscape that provides an ideal backdrop for the client’s personal collection of sculptural art.

Three main boxes, containing the main entrance, bedrooms and?master bedroom are entirely clad in white limestone, giving the house?an overall feel of monumentality. From the front entrance, the?aesthetic composition of sliding planes and boxes form an almost?abstract backdrop to a Botero sculpture placed in the front courtyard.?In order to balance the solidity of the limestone-clad boxes, the?fa?ade of the house was conceived as delicate and lightweight.

Forming a series of sectional reveals towards the front of the house,?this seemingly lightweight fa?ade was a considerable challenge with?canopies and fins that are no more than 100 millimeters thick.?Structural metal plates sandwiched between limestone slabs,?repeated in a series of razor-sharp edges, form the front fa?ade. The?front garden is detailed with sandy beige granite walls and a silver?travertine deck, providing a subtle contrast to the limestone cladding?that forms the backdrop.

The bedrooms are arranged in a linear fashion, with most facing the?front of the house, activating the front lawn. Interior works were also?carried out by SCDA, ensuring that all spaces are lavishly appointed?and conceived in unison with the delicate balance of art and?architecture that has been created throughout the house.