29A, LOOM LANE

Details

TQ 19 NE ALDENHAM LOOM LANE
Radlett
463/7/10011
No. 29A

II


Private house. 1962-4, 1964-5 by George Marsh for himself and family. Timber hyperbolic paraboloid roofs on light steel frame, with concrete floors on basement box frame and with reinforced concrete buttresses, and dark brick and rough stone infilling. Annex roof supported on the Mahoborn teak frame of the window glazing. Roof covering of copper-faced g.r.p. reinforced roofing felt. Irregular rectangular plan governed by the changing heights of the three `hypars', the principal house of two storeys and semi-basement on steeply sloping site, the subsequent addition of one storey over garage.
EXTERIOR: The exterior is dominated by overhanging roofs, of cedar, with rafters and cavity to give insulation. Timber casement windows, of Mohoborn teak and cedar, fill 75% of the wall surface to south, east and west, the last two faces double-glazed. South elevations with balconies to upper flors, that to bedroom floor with cedar boarding to balustrade. The north elevation largely blind, but with entrance reached up steps from east and with small mezzanine office (a later addition) over. The house is entered via two teak doors, the inner a stable or divided door. Side panel of Swedish glass, with projecting timber canopy bearing number `29a' in period lettering.
INTERIOR: This is remarkably rich in the variety of its materials and is little altered. Small entrance hall with open-tread spiral staircase with timber treads and steel balustrade. Screen of Swedish glass samples in steel frame gives on to open plan living, dining and kitchen areas arranged along the south front, the living and kitchen areas higher than the dining area between them. Floors of Carrara marble pieces set in black terrazzo, timber ceilings, and one wall of broken York paving slabs. Kitchen with fitted cupboards incorporating hidden door to annexe; suspended shelves and copper extract hood; central Parana pine table post-tensioned and cantilevered on two central legs. Balcony above houses bathroom. Living room with brindle black brick walls contrasted with ceiling of varying heights and materials, including one section with textured plaster and hanging lights. Semi-basement houses playroom/ spare bedroom, with combined lavatory, sink and bathroom fixture clad in mosaic; sauna; and industrial sized electric boiler supplying heating and air conditioning operated from a large built-in console with external sensors. Staircase and mezzanine office also with areas finished in beige and gold mosaic, otherwise of plaster applied by hand and sponge, a feature of the upper spinal corridor and bedrooms. At each end children's rooms with fitted closets; in the centre the main bedroom has a p.v.c. coated wall to give a mirror finish, while other walls incorporate niches for sculpture. The annexe rooms are simpler, with high timber ceilings following the line of the `hypar'.
George Marsh was an early partner of Richard Seifert and design architect of Centre Point, LB Camden. His own house, his principal domestic work, demonstrates the same felicity with 1960s' idioms and materials within a practical design concept that embraces every element of the design from its appearance to its heating, ventilation and maintenance. The house was never published, and is a distinctive one-off design.



Listing NGR: TQ1629298945

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472983

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