Stepping Stones Pool House – Henley

© James Brittain Photography

Elegantly designed pool house – Nominated in the House Category for Building of the Year 2021 by ArchDaily

 

Overall the Architectural project design was to create two new buildings providing additional living accommodation to the existing Manor House. The two buildings were designed to be flood proof and taking into consideration the natural environment along with the footfall of family members. The overall scheme offers an oriental resemblance which was key to the architect’s design.

 

All Brick and Stone were approached by the architects to assist with sourcing and supplying a brick type for the main outbuildings. The brick choice required a linear format to complement the existing Manor House. Various samples were put together and presented along with the architects’ choice as well. After much discussion, a decision was made and a sample panel was built in order to confirm the choice prior to construction. A longer linear format brick was chosen to emphasise the horizontal lines of the new building design, thus creating a contemporary and elegant appearance.

 

Another area of the project where our expertise was called upon was for the walkway and the fanned paved steps adjacent to the pool house buildings. The challenge was to source a metric brick for both the steps and walkway outside the back of the Manor House. Many blends and samples were submitted and careful consideration was taken into account as the specification was to be hard wearing due to the high volume of traffic. The result was a suitable brick choice which not only was dense and hardwearing but also had low absorption properties due to being laid next to water. The overall colour blended sympathetically and offered a transition between the old and the new.

 

The overall result of the project is that the architecture and materials chosen reflect the environment and landscape which merge together to create a calming yet striking design. Our service team worked in partnership with R.J. Clyde Builders Limited to ensure that the materials required reflected every element of the architect’s vision which was successfully achieved.