Mariners Way

The site for this project was the coastal village of Warsash. With the site orientation, making use of the natural light and blurring the external with the internal spaces became a prominent feature within the design.

Warsash, situated in souther Hampshire, England, sits at the mouth of the River Hamble. Steeped in maritime history, including shipbuilding for the Royal Navy in the 18th century; It is home to the Warsash Maritime Academy which is part of a local university, providing relevant training for Merchant Navy Officers from all over the world. Warsash also has it’s own sailing club. The village is in the borough of Fareham, and is consequentially part of the Fareham parliamentary constituency.

The design caters to the clients needs of creating a comfortable and welcoming family home, whilst highlighting contemporary architectural features. Due to the spatial complexities of family living, we designed with a balanced relationship between large open living areas and private spaces in mind. The proposal, although contemporary in form, blends in harmoniously with the surroundings and respect the local town’s historic character through its utilisation of material and form.

The design looks to flip the ‘standard’ living arrangements of bedrooms upstairs and living space downstairs. With the two main living spaces (kitchen/dining, casual seating) being divided between two floors, aiming to imbue the design with more flexibility. The bedrooms are also distributed between floors, including a self-contained living space on the ground floor allowing the owners to invite guests to stay, or even offer hospitality opportunities.

The design promotes a warm, social, family-friendly environment. Whilst using open-planned spaces to do this, privacy isn’t compromised and remains a crucial element within the scheme. Carefully placed skylights allow the sun to permeate through the dwelling and it’s spaces, creating beautiful moments in key spaces such as the dining area.