In contrast to the
sorry mess proposed for Brockley Cross comes this plan for a 5-bedroom house on an empty plot on Breakspears Road,
submitted for approval recently.
Conceived by regular BCer Richard and designed by local architect
Gruff, the plan is a hybrid house - Victorian replica at the front, modernist at the back. The approach respects the Conservation Area while allowing them to have some fun with the interior spaces. The result is about as good as anyone could ever hope for and will clean up a spot which had become a dumping ground for anyone with an old tyre to chuck.
This is how you do pastiche - go big or go home. Richard is spending a lot of money to get the details right - embellishments that the Victorians used to knock out in the thousands now have to be specially-made. In the long-run, however, paying attention to the detail is probably a pretty good investment.
It's the kind of ambitious design we
forecast for 2014, but one which complements the character of the street. More of this sort of thing please.
