Aldeburgh House

The house, in the Suffolk seaside town Aldeburgh, had been in the same ownership for decades. It was to be a holiday home for a young family, cosy enough for four in winter but spacious for dozens in summer. The large Victorian villa had an arts and crafts vernacular, with a pretty double bay fronted facade to the rear overlooking a mature garden, paired with an unremarkable, defensive and poorly adapted frontage over a suburban street. Large formal rooms were disconnected by a warren of service spaces, heavy closed stair, clumsy porch and no connectivity to the outside. The house did not need to be expanded in footprint, but capacious lofts were begging to be explored, promising views over the marshes. The brief demanded durability, flexibility, warmth, beauty and joy.

A restrained palette of ash, oak and terracotta anchor the house, referencing the arts and crafts heritage. Tactile insertions recalibrate the hierarchy of the space. A new porch was pushed through the middle of the facade replacing the former kitchen window, the generous archway drawing you into the belly of the home. Oak benches sit alongside a bespoke frieze of Persian tiles by local artist Boris Aldridge, encouraging a moment of rest in this threshold. The central walls of the house were cleared away creating a large hall, and triple height atrium above. Timber framed glazed screens flank the hall at ground and first layering the journey through the rooms. A characterful solid ash winding stair and bannister rises to the newly claimed attics where a vast curved dormer (a recurring motif) expands the house into the broad Suffolk skies. Two further dormers stretch north and south further inhabiting the roofscape.

Domestic life rotates around this central hall, the oak table continually hosting activities of unpacking, cards, reading or drinks. The playroom, rear porch and drawing room all ebbing and flowing from this core. To the rear a single room was formed as kitchen / living / dining connected by a glazed spine wall. The bay windows dropped to the floor, with doors leading to the newly landscaped gardens.

Upstairs, seven bedrooms and four bathrooms adapt to suit whoever is visiting, with a guest suite separated by a glazed screen. BDA were responsible for the selection of all furniture and fixtures throughout, down to the bedlinen, with carefully composed colour palettes setting a holiday tone. Joinery included a quadruple bunkbed and concertina blinds to the curved dormer. Bespoke glazed tiles were installed to the fireplaces.

Photography: Ståle Eriksen and Beasley Dickson Architects