Triptych House by Paul Cashin Architects in Hampshire, UK

Project: Triptych House Architects: Paul Cashin Architects Location: Winchester, Hampshire, United Kingdom Area: 1,722 sq ft Year: 2019 Photography by: Richard Chivers

Triptych House by Paul Cashin Architects

The Triptych House in Winchester, Hampshire, UK is a Grade II listed building that underwent renovation and expansion by Paul Cashin Architects in 2019. Despite its modest appearance from the street, the interior is much larger with rooms connected to each other. The client's goal was to replace a garden extension with a modern one and carry out renovation and re-planning of the rest of the house. Architects developed a concept where the house consists of three main spaces: bedroom with bathroom, kitchen and dining room, as well as a billiards room.

The Triptych House is a Grade II listed building in Winchester, Hampshire. The property forms part of a row of terrace houses adjacent to an 18th-century manor. From the street, the house appears modest and unassuming. Before renovation and extension, most of the interior looked like a typical house. At the back was a single-storey garden extension housing the dining room and kitchen. This part served as an intermediary space between the main house and another two-storey building in the garden, previously used as a billiards room.

Inside this structure was a spacious two-storey space with a mezzanine and used as a lounge and office. The client wanted to replace the garden extension with a modern addition, creating new space for kitchen and dining room, as well as carry out renovation and re-planning of the rest of the house. Despite its external appearance, the house was actually much larger internally. Rooms were connected to each other and the house resembled a 'Tardis'.

We developed a concept where the journey through three main parts of the house: bedroom with bathroom, kitchen and dining room, as well as billiards room—were considered as three parts of a single work of art. In the bedroom, original attic windows were found which influenced the decision to create a vaulted ceiling showing large wooden beams. These new high ceilings and wooden beams reflect the existing architecture of the billiards room.

For the new extension, we saw an opportunity to create a contrasting space with low ceilings, textured walls and dark furniture. We noticed that all other rooms in the house were oriented inward—partly due to small windows and also because of the natural surroundings. The new extension was positioned to provide a key view toward the gates at the bottom of the garden. This gave this relatively small space unique qualities compared to other rooms. When working with existing buildings, we always strive to highlight their natural architectural features rather than oppose them.

We see our work as a way to allow each building to reveal its inner qualities and make every room more 'itself'. Our interventions in the billiards room emphasized lightness and airiness. The existing mezzanine was adjusted and fitted with new modern industrial railings and staircase, which serve as a sculptural element contrasting with the more traditional formal part. Inside, walls were reconfigured to create an open and free space while still maintaining privacy and interaction between different areas.

–Paul Cashin Architects