The Gardens, Leigh-on-Sea

In a stunning setting where Leigh Creek joins the vast scale of the Thames estuary, the last two cottages of this Victorian terrace are transformed with a new addition that echoes its former coastguard look-out past. Our first ‘crenulation’ project provides 3200 sq ft of flexible accommodation that reconciles the sloped river-edge setting to create dramatic hybridised living, working and sleeping spaces at both floors.

The original terrace was built in the late 1800’s, was entirely overtaken by the Coastguard Authority in the early 20th Century given its strategic viewpoint up the Thames, with a quirky look-out tower added at that time.

The addition is made up of 3 separate masses that sit back from the reimagined monolithic tower, each with gently facetted planes formed of through-colour lime-based render and engages the sloping site to provide entrances at both levels, with new trademark skylights and a column free kitchen and dining space tucked inconspicuously into the hillside, doubling as a retaining structure at the rear.

A strategy for maintaining the existing sycamore trees that provide privacy and also soften the impact of the scheme has been envisaged from the start as one part of a landscape strategy that envisages new hard and softscapes, including subtle terracing and new native Scots’ Pine planting.