Shangrila House

In Progress

This project is an exercise in doing more with less. The brief for a formal, identifiable entry to the home sees an under-utilised exterior courtyard space transformed into a contemporary entertainer’s paradise. The existing courtyard was overgrown, dark and uninspiring. The ‘big move’ for the project sees a reworking of site circulation to propose a new concrete stair which brings visitors into the heart of the courtyard with a clear, direct line to the entry to the home. Beautifying the tired courtyard is achieved through arrangement of architecture and landscape to create usable exterior spaces and experiences. 

This project is a combination of arrival sequence works, the creation of a contemporary courtyard/bbq/entertaining area plus reusing a storage building and transforming this into a studio, cellar, and sauna. The client’s wish to provide an experience for their family and guests. A pared-back palette of textured concrete and masonry is softened by cascading planting and relaxed curves to provide a touch of luxury and elegance.

The client required a studio office to be able to work from home. This is located on the top/street level of the existing storage building. Below, the new cellar and sauna are carved in underneath. The cellar is inward focussed whilst the sauna connects with the garden. A low flat roof hovers over the new undercover bbq area. Built-in seating morphs into landscape elements and privacy screening, plants will cascade over terraced planter boxes mediating the slope from the street.