High Warren

Located on the periphery of Aldeburgh, Suffolk within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, High Warren was originally built in 1965, to a design that was superficially typical of its era. A single storey, C-shaped bungalow with a hip-end pitched pantile roof forming deep eaves and walls consisting of brick corner piers and timber-clad, un-insulated blockwork infill walls.

The design aimed to create a clear and compelling composition of substantially reduced bulk, which “leans” towards the surrounding rural context and away from the suburban prototypes that informed the original design. The existing hipped-end roof was reconfigured to form two parallel gable-ended roof elements, connected by a flat, green roof.

The new, simpler building form was generated from the existing plan and window apertures to create a legible architectural composition. The simple gable-end volumes are arranged to express the main living spaces, and their new character is reinforced using untreated oak cladding of narrow vertical battens that unite the overall composition.

In awarding the house a 2022 RIBA award, the jury commented

"The result of a 10 year self-confessed ‘labour of love’, this house has taken on an unpromising 1960s bungalow on the edge of Aldeburgh’s golf course and discovered in its fabric some latent intention and promise waiting to get out.

The outcome had a mesmeric effect on the visiting panel – each move seems to have distilled the potential of the original house with a precision of effort that makes one think of architectural jiu-jitsu. From suburban origins, the result conjures both Nordic modernist traditions as well as something of the architect’s native California, while also amplifying the unique setting of the house itself. "