Eldridge London is a small RIBA Chartered Architecture Practice based in Battersea and Newlynn Cornwall. Founded as Eldridge Smerin in 1998, their first project, ‘The Lawns’ in The Highgate Conservation area, was nominated for the Stirling Prize. The practice rebranded to Eldridge London in 2015 and has gone on to complete many award winning projects, including houses in
Highgate Cemetery, Epson and Kingston.
Highgate Cemetery, Epson and Kingston.
The practice specialises in creating contemporary and innovative homes, particularly in challenging and sensitive contexts such as conservation areas and rural sites. They achieve this by pushing the limits of contemporary design and responding to historic architectural significance, materiality, massing and alignment with the immediate context.
The practice has always enjoyed being a small team, only 4, including myself, at the time. This allows placement students to get involved in key meetings and design decisions, working closely with Director Nick Eldridge and Associate Director/Project Architect Mike Gibson.
On my placement, I was involved in 2 projects in conceptual design, a house in Stockwell, London and a Paragraph 80 scheme in Wiltshire. Another project was in Penzance, Cornwall. Being onsite, I was heavily involved in drawing up the technical drawings, implementing different products and systems into our build ups, and working closely with the Structural Engineers and Main Contractor to work through drawings to find solutions that best suit the project. Having both concept and technical projects allowed me to have a very broad experience, challenging my abilities and gaining vast amounts of vital knowledge to help me in the future.
House in Epson - Eldridge London
FORD RIGHT - PARAGRAPH 80 HOUSE
The project was for a long lasting client of the practice. Having lived in Castle Combe for a long time, they came to us to build their ‘forever home’ on a beautiful site looking over the valley and hills of the area. The scope of the brief and the site allowed us to go through a Paragraph 80 planning application that included the design review panel process of experts to deem that the project is of exceptional Architecture, enhancing the immediate setting and is sensitive to the defining characteristics of the site.
Due to the beautiful site, this was my highlight project, developing a scheme that enhances and celebrates the rural context. Due to Design Review Panel process, we were pushed to ensure our design development and rationale were embedded in local historical context and architectural significance. In this scheme, we are exploring the history of the traditional English Country House and their significance in Rural English Architecture. Here we explore how country houses have changed their relationships with courtyards and the landscape. We are developing a contemporary country house where the landscape flows through the scheme and is heavily entwined within the architecture through hard and soft landscaping, courtyards, sunken hollows, circular pockets of woodland and orchards/nutterys.