A Liveable Porous Form – Baffle House by Clare Cousins

Baffle House sees an unlikely extension to an Edwardian home take form as a series of sculptural steel and glass boxes. Clare Cousins proposes a liveable, porous form that connects the existing home with its rear garden through striking gestures.

Conceived as a garden pavilion of sorts, Baffle House takes cues from the typified glasshouse or orangerie to better connect the existing home to the garden. The resulting extension comes together as a series of rhythmic steel battens that spread the width and height of the extension form. The interesting use of glass and steel in such a bold gesture not only conjures a sculptural play of materiality but openly encourages light to enter the internal space and cast shadows throughout the day. Clare Cousins combines a sense of refinement with a curious understanding of space and how it is used to create an extension that connects to the garden beyond and, through its porosity, becomes a transitional portal between the built and the natural.

Conceived as a garden pavilion of sorts, Baffle House takes cues from the typified glasshouse or orangerie to better connect the existing home to the garden.

The architects emphasise the connection to the home’s courtyard through the play on scale and proportion. The courtyard itself then becomes an continuation of the home and, in itself, is also a sculptural expression. The direct engagement between the living elements of the landscape, designed by Secret Gardens, and the more static elements of the built form are then activated through the interplay with light. Providing protection from the summer sun, the thin but generously deep baffles redirect the unwanted solar heat gain and are staggered in such a way as to create an interactive façade that casts dramatic shadows internally throughout the day.

Clare Cousins proposes a liveable, porous form that connects the existing home with its rear garden through striking gestures.

Manifesting as its own honeycomb-esque structure, the outer faces of the extension are expressed with the steel and glass combo, and the internal elements are expressed as clean and uninterrupted plaster walls. The ceiling is dramatically raked and lined with a subtly washed timber finish, adding an element of warmth through the unexpected. The same oak tones are used in the joinery throughout, together with a muted white and natural stone palette. The thoughtful and enriching layers to the extension connect to the heavily detailed and considered elements of the original home, but more in notion than aesthetic. The clear connection and celebration of craft is obvious, and the select and restrained use of lighting, furniture and accents allow the larger gestures to be best displayed and enjoyed.

Baffle House beautifully engages with its site and offers an alternative approach to the extending a period home. Through emphasising the bold gesture of the façade and its comprising baffles, Clare Cousins has created a sense of balance, and, in doing so, a home that engages and offers itself as a calming escape.

The architects emphasise the connection to the home’s courtyard through the play on scale and proportion.