Malling Street

This scheme for five houses sits on a gateway site into Lewes, East Sussex, within the South Downs National Park. The 458m2 site has previously functioned as petrol station from 1949 and was later used as a car dealership.
The design layout and building form are born from the sites many constraints and this has resulted in a ‘quirky’ plan with few right angles, and so evokes an historic setting. Massing respects the neighbouring properties privacy, daylight and sunlight, with first floor openings located at a distance to avoid against overlooking its neighbours.

The proposal includes a terrace of three 2-storey houses to Malling Street with pitched roofs and to the rear of the site, a further two small houses with entrances off Davey’s Lane.

The buildings to Malling Street follow the building line between neighbouring properties with an elevational profile that resonates with the varied rooflines of the area. Looking closely at buildings of Lewes there is a common theme of brick to ground floor with cladding above. As a contextual response a simple palette of earthy grey brick to ground and vertical slate tile above picks up on the local vernacular, but in an entirely contemporary way.

Details

Client	Baobab Developments
Status	Completed (2021)
Contract value	£Undisclosed
GIA m²	470 m²
Planning consultant	Lewis & Co.
Structural engineer	Lyons O'Neill
Landscape architect	Nicholas Dexter Studio
Contractor	Magnificent Works
Highways consultant	Project Centre
Sustainability Consultant	NuPlanet
Project Team	Pete Humphry, Adam Jundi
Photography	© Richard Chivers