Firwood Knutsford

Redevlopment of a locally listed mock tudor house, Leycester Road, Knutsford within the Legh Road Conservation area.

A private client purchased a dilapidated house that had previously been  converted into three apartments.  The brief was for 5 reception rooms, 6 ensuite bedrooms, games room, cinema, bar / nightclub, swimming pool with spa, sauna and steam room.

To accommodate the additional bedrooms the entire roof was removed from the house, a steel frame erected to open up the space to accommodate three of the bedrooms and a new, outwardly identical, roof built over the steel frame.  Reclaimed roof tiles were used to ensure the new roof blended with the existing building.   A rear extension matching the architecture of the existing house was added to accommodate a large kitchen, master ensuite, dressing room and roof terrace.   The new mock tudor oak boards were sandblasted and then received multiple coats of paint to artificially age them and blend the old and new.

After extended discussions with the local Conservation Officer it was agreed that the new leisure building, housing the pool and one of the lounges, could be designed as an overtly contemporary addition to the locally listed house, providing that it was not visible from the street.  Large sliding doors allow the pool and lounge to be opened up to a new south facing courtyard terrace.  Travertine floor tiles run from the entrance hall, through the entire ground floor, across the courtyard and into the pool in one coordinated pattern.

The rear of the house was underpinned and a new basement added to provide a nightclub, cinema and games room.  A cantilevered stone staircase carved from Jerusalem Limestone provides a fitting centrepiece to the house.