Piano Room & Art Studio Addition to a Listed Hall, Norfolk

This beautiful, Grade II Listed hall has been in the same family for many generations.  A small section of the building was pulled down in the 1950’s, so the current owner came to us to with an idea to design a new infill, but our new design had to make a thoughtful and ‘respectful’ contribution to the impressive courtyard of buildings.  The challenge was therefore how to design a beautiful building, then how tome sure that the client that they loved the design and knew that it would sit comfortably amongst the rest of the historic buildings which form the Hall?

We started  by develop a brief for the new spaces, then we developed these ideas into a series of sketch proposals to ensure that the design functioned well.  Then we developed our proposals into a 3D model then used Virtual Reality so our client could ‘walk around’ the design until they knew that our design felt ‘right’ in such a historic setting.  This approach allowed us to work with them and to create an incredible double-height space, filled with light and perfect for piano recitals with an art studio for their young family above.

We proposed a textured brick façade with a ‘hit & miss’ brickwork pattern, which makes reference to the ‘dentil cornices’ adjacent. This creates a simple, symmetrical and recessive element which helps to unify the two adjacent buildings once again.  The pattern is broken up by adding two arch-headed doors to the courtyard and one to the rear to complete the composition and offer glimpsed views through to the lake beyond. The planner and Conservation Officer agreed with our approach and were are delighted to have secured Listed Building consent in such a sensitive context.