DOI Heft:
The British Empire
DOI Artikel:British domestic architecture: notes on the illustrations
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21779#0035
BRITISH DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
FEW professions have suffered more from the general upheaval
due to the war than that of architecture, and more especially
those members of it who have hitherto devoted themselves en-
tirely to work of a domestic character. Yet in spite of the
dearth of activity in this direction we are enabled to show in these pages
a number of illustrations of houses which have been recently erected,
or are about to be erected, and which possess considerable interest as
evidences of sound contemporary work. Before describing these in de-
tail attention may be drawn to the increasing thought architects are
giving to the open-air room, either in the form of a complete compart-
ment open on the south side, a loggia, or even a veranda. In America
and in most of the British Colonies considerable attention has always
been given to this particular feature. But it is only within the last ten
years that people in England have awakened to the fact that, provided
you are protected from the cold winds and rain, it is possible to live in
the open air during the daytime for nearly six months out of the year ;
while the more spartan may even sleep under these conditions without
harm or discomfort; on the contrary, the hygienic advantages, especially
in the case of children, are beyond question. It is, of course, of the ut-
most importance that the room should have a favourable aspect, so that
the maximum amount of sun can be obtained together with protection
from the cold winds. In several of the illustrations here the open-air
room appears in one form or another, and in the planning of some of
the houses, the architects have shown considerable ingenuity in pro-
viding for this feature, the advantages of which are obvious.
As a frontispiece to our illustrations a reproduction in colours is given
of the Inner Hall of a house which has been recently built at Ottershaw
in Surrey. The house is characteristic of a style which the architect,
Mr. M. H. Baillie Scott, has adopted and developed with success, and is
essentially English in conception. The hall shown here represents the
main living-room, having at one end a dining recess and at the other a
gallery accomrftodating a grand piano. Old oak for the roof timbers has
been used with pleasing effect, while the general scheme of decoration
gives to this interior an air of dignity and repose.
The site of the small house in Kent (p. 29), designed by Mr. J. Gordon
Allen, slopes down to the south, and to obtain the croquet lawn seen in
the sketch it was necessary to excavate half the lawn, the surplus soil
being used to level up the remaining half. Strict economy and a desire
for sunshine in the rooms influenced the planning. The accommodation
provided consists of a sitting-hall with fireplace, a drawing-room con-
taining an ingle-nook built of brick, and a large drawing-room giving
21
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
FEW professions have suffered more from the general upheaval
due to the war than that of architecture, and more especially
those members of it who have hitherto devoted themselves en-
tirely to work of a domestic character. Yet in spite of the
dearth of activity in this direction we are enabled to show in these pages
a number of illustrations of houses which have been recently erected,
or are about to be erected, and which possess considerable interest as
evidences of sound contemporary work. Before describing these in de-
tail attention may be drawn to the increasing thought architects are
giving to the open-air room, either in the form of a complete compart-
ment open on the south side, a loggia, or even a veranda. In America
and in most of the British Colonies considerable attention has always
been given to this particular feature. But it is only within the last ten
years that people in England have awakened to the fact that, provided
you are protected from the cold winds and rain, it is possible to live in
the open air during the daytime for nearly six months out of the year ;
while the more spartan may even sleep under these conditions without
harm or discomfort; on the contrary, the hygienic advantages, especially
in the case of children, are beyond question. It is, of course, of the ut-
most importance that the room should have a favourable aspect, so that
the maximum amount of sun can be obtained together with protection
from the cold winds. In several of the illustrations here the open-air
room appears in one form or another, and in the planning of some of
the houses, the architects have shown considerable ingenuity in pro-
viding for this feature, the advantages of which are obvious.
As a frontispiece to our illustrations a reproduction in colours is given
of the Inner Hall of a house which has been recently built at Ottershaw
in Surrey. The house is characteristic of a style which the architect,
Mr. M. H. Baillie Scott, has adopted and developed with success, and is
essentially English in conception. The hall shown here represents the
main living-room, having at one end a dining recess and at the other a
gallery accomrftodating a grand piano. Old oak for the roof timbers has
been used with pleasing effect, while the general scheme of decoration
gives to this interior an air of dignity and repose.
The site of the small house in Kent (p. 29), designed by Mr. J. Gordon
Allen, slopes down to the south, and to obtain the croquet lawn seen in
the sketch it was necessary to excavate half the lawn, the surplus soil
being used to level up the remaining half. Strict economy and a desire
for sunshine in the rooms influenced the planning. The accommodation
provided consists of a sitting-hall with fireplace, a drawing-room con-
taining an ingle-nook built of brick, and a large drawing-room giving
21