Grade II listed building gets contemporary make-over

A Grade II listed building, Dunham House is one of a number of Georgian Prebendal houses and associated gardens in central Southwell.

When the Southwell Minster was established, the canons or prebendaries had prebendal houses in Southwell, which took their names from the estates, which generated their revenue. A wide range of architectural styles are currently represented in Southwell Prebends, but in general, these properties are characterised by being large, detached houses set within their own extensive grounds. Through any new proposals it is important to retain the openness of the garden space and, in contrast, the character of this area of Southwell with its strong, walled boundaries defining the front of properties.

Historically, the prebendal garden would typically include areas of lawn enclosed by specimen trees in which a number of formal planting beds would be used to provide sustenance for the residents of the main house. Often these planting beds were used to grow a variety of herbs, vegetables and fruit as well as plants that could be used for medicinal purposes.

Until recently, the greater part of the existing garden remained untouched, open in nature and defined by freestanding masonry walls and mature trees. Planting beds had been cut into the lawn with a formal lawn situated adjacent to the Dunham House terrace. A line of trees that cut across the lawn area serves to separate the more traditional prebendal garden with the more functional garden.

Recently, this section of garden had been used for domestic purposes including a greenhouse, sheds, vegetable plots and a garage building all of which detract somewhat from the historical prebendal character. The main house was being used for offices with an out dated extension built onto the main house.

Recognising this, Southwell Diocese in Nottinghamshire conceived a plan to replace their old office building with a more contemporary structure, separated from the historic Dunham House which was to be regenerated into luxury apartments.

IMG_4858Requiring expert landscape consultancy for the project, Southwell Diocese appointed Influence Environmental Ltd. Working in collaboration with Clive Brooks Architects, Influence prepared an overall masterplan with hard and soft landscape plans for parking, a communal office space and gardens.

The garden space around and between the new office building and the retained Dunham House have been designed to emphasise the sense of a prebendal garden, maximising useable space and providing a transparent boundary between the public and private.IMG_4872

As the greater part of the existing garden remained untouched and open in nature, the existing lawn has been left to grow long in certain places, allowing Daisies and Buttercups to thrive. This meadow-like appearance will be enhanced by native bulb planting and a mown strip will allow residents to meander through the grounds.

A new wall is introduced and embedded in the garden through a mound, helping to define the space for the Dunham House apartments and reduce the visual connection between the living and working spaces.

The garden space outside of the retained listed building is more formal in style and offers a defined private space for the residents.

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Planting through the car park area has helped to break up the visual hardstanding, and provide vegetation within a predominantly hardscaped area. Large trees are a feature of the street scene and the proposed structure planting within the frontage helped support the existing landscape setting.IMG_4921

One of the key elements of the development had been to stitch the new building into the wider landscape, and by using green roofs; to soften the architecture and reduced the flow of rainwater runoff.

As a backdrop to the office accommodation the first and second floors use a palette of plants that complement the garden plants below. A series of mounds provide a variety of planting depths in which to plant a mix of herbaceous perennials, ornamental grasses and ground cover plants. These also reduce the solar gain and provide a degree of thermal mass to the roofspace.

The planter that wraps around the roof perimeter contains climbers such as Periwinkle, which will be allowed to trail over and across the Brise Soleil.

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The third roof, which is not visible to the office users, consists of a Biodiverse (brown roof) structure. Influence used crushed clean material from the existing office building to form part of the substrate for a wildflower seed mix. The source of seed is of local provenance. Overall this approach has provided a greater degree of ecological enhancement than traditional roof construction methods.

Influence are proud to have been involved in the contemporary redesign of this historic landscape and will continue to influence our environment with sustainable solutions.

 

Some older Site photos: Dunham site photos before Dunham house before