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Why we draw the stairs first
A staircase decides where the light falls, where the doors go and how a house feels on the way to bed. So it is the first thing on our drawing…
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Buying off-plan without the nerves
Reserving a home that is still a hole in the ground takes nerve. Here is what we send every buyer, every month, until the keys are handed over.
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A terrace that steps down to the pool
The bottom of this garden took water every spring. We raised the house on a stone terrace and let the pool become the lowest point of the plot.
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Glass that keeps its cool
Floor-to-ceiling glass can bake the rooms behind it. Deep balconies above every window shade it when the sun is high and let it in when the sun is low.
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Brick that gets better with age
We choose a brick by leaving samples outside for a winter. The one that looks better in March than it did in October is the one we build with.
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Planning a kitchen around one window
A galley kitchen with one window has to earn every centimetre. We put the sink under the glass, the hob beside it and the tall cupboards where the light never…
