Eva’s Place

RIBA SUFFOLK DESIGN AWARD 2015

The original house at Eva’s Place was designed and built in the 1980s by Clive Latimer, Product Designer and collaborator with Robin Day.  Conceived as a prototype for sustainable living, it was designed on a modular system and used wood stove heating, solar gain and heat storage principles.

The clients wished to remove an existing defunct heat store (conservatory) to create more usable floor space and give the house a new focus and connection with the garden while respecting its strong and distinctive modernist design.  Their personal and professional interest in materials, art and form presented an opportunity to adopt a sculptural and tactile approach to the design and detailing of the project which we collectively referred to as jewellery for the house.

Maintaining the legacy of the experimental dwelling’s approach to aesthetics and reduced environmental impact, a palette of materials was selected and sourced from UK manufacturers to reduce additional finishing processes and long-term maintenance including shuttered concrete rear entrance steps; standing seam external metal roof and wall cladding; mill finished aluminium guttering; and a unifying OSB (oriented strand boarding) internal finish with expressed fixings.

‘I just wanted to let you know how much I really love what you did for us.  The design process was so positive and led to such a great outcome.  The extension you designed brings us so much pleasure on a daily basis and still looks as good as the day you left it.’

Photography  Cristina Granena