An Homage to the Luxury Automobile – NNH Residence by Emma Tulloch Architects and Mim Design

An homage to the client’s love of fine automobiles, NNH Residence by Emma Tulloch Architects and Mim Design blends understated luxury and craftsmanship with familial warmth.

Located on a wide, tree-lined street in Malvern, the venture saw Mim Design partner with Emma Tulloch Architects and McLaren Developments. The contemporary family home is made for entertainment, with thoughtful spatial planning and a holistic ethos that see equilibrium found between precision detailing and durable materials nod to the property’s inspiration. Natural stone is regularly paired with mixed metal accents, while polished plaster is offset by timber hues and upholstered walls, evoking a masculine strength.

Similarly, great care was afforded to the proportions of the building, which are enhanced by the approach to materials and light. The exterior palette combines limestone, polished render and steel, with glass reinforced plastic used for the black curves that emphasise the sense of balance and proportion. Internally, joinery and sculptural features, such as the flowing staircase and grand steel sliding doors, honour the scale of the house but also serve to ground it so that, despite their scale and generosity, the spaces have an intimacy and sense of calm. This contrast is evenly explored throughout, ensuring that the house is not only about an elevated aesthetic but also founded in a thoughtful liveability.

Located on a wide, tree-lined street in Malvern, the venture saw Mim Design partner with Emma Tulloch Architects and McLaren Developments.

The application of natural stone throughout the interiors helps to shape an authentic connection between indoors and out, as the surrounding landscape is welcomed in via prominent outlooks and centralised skylights. The use of light is best demonstrated through a series of courtyards that lead down to the basement area, allowing illumination and ventilation into a space that would otherwise have none and challenging the traditional uses of a basement space. It also hints to the journey of discovery throughout NNH Residence, which the designers employed to create a feeling of sanctuary as the home is revealed slowly and with care.

A more overt revelation is in the eight-car garage, whereby the client’s extensive collection of model cars is presented in custom brass cabinetry alongside their life size counterparts, and a secondary gallery-cum entertainment space. The basketball court is another obvious reference point for a family that features two teenage boys and has quickly become a focal point day-to-day.

The exterior palette combines limestone, polished render and steel, with glass reinforced plastic used for the black curves that emphasise the sense of balance and proportion.

With the time from the initial concepts through to breaking ground coming in at under a year, this fast-tracked development was only possible through the seamless collaboration between client, developer and architect. This trust shared by all invested parties has seen a novel brief turned into a mature and sophisticated family home, at once grand and discrete.

This trust shared by all invested parties has seen a novel brief turned into a mature and sophisticated family home, at once grand and discrete.