APPRAISAL

摘要

Quite what Deborah Saunt and David Hills' neighbours make of the name the DSDHA directors have bestowed on their family home we can but wonder. Invisible from the street and extending only a single storey above ground, the Covert House may very well be the model of discretion that its architects claim, but not many in the surrounding south London conservation area would seem to agree. Saunt and Hills only secured permission for their three-bedroom home on appeal after multiple objections led to their initial application's refusal on the grounds of overdevelopment. That process added four years to what was already a protracted programme. The architects first embarked on the project in 2006 when they struck on an ingenious method of securing a site. Already living in the area with their two young children, they came across a nearby group of streets lined by large, early 19th-century properties. After consulting an Ordnance Survey map, they identified a number with gardens of a size that could support the construction of a standalone house.They wrote to five owners asking if they would consider selling them the necessary land and received one positive reply.