Five-Bedroom Family Dwelling With Separate Pool House
Under this brief, our architects in Bolton were tasked with designing a five-bedroom family home, complete with a separate pool house featuring a swimming pool, gym, and guest house. This contemporary home represents a harmonious balance between modern architectural innovation and the natural beauty of its surroundings. The brief was to create a project that was inspired by the tranquil landscape of this site in Bolton, creating a home that connects seamlessly with the surrounding nature. The client required the design to reflect a commitment to pushing boundaries in structure, form, and materials while ensuring that the client’s vision of a private, light-filled sanctuary was fully realised.
Responding to the secluded, sloping woodland site, it was a natural decision for our architects in Bolton to exploit the beautiful landscape and views as a catalyst for conceptualising contemporary design. This was achieved by placing the house in the commanding position at the top of the site, with the pool house below nestling in a natural step, thereby maintaining clear views from the house across the site and to the horizon, with the pool building totally invisible beneath.Â
From the main house, the landscape has been raised to form a level plane to the roof of the pool building, creating an extra extended garden element for the client. An existing avenue of tall Sitka spruce trees protrudes through circular holes in leaf-shaped shallow pools, creating a poetic combination of black reflective planes and sculptural verticality, especially when up-lit at night from beneath the water.
The first floor of the house rests on the ground floor in an expression of muscular compression, with contrasting materials selected to emphasise the different nature of each layer – the anchored ground floor form is constructed from stone in early tones, while the white render above serves to emphasis the floating nature of the upper layer. Stone-clad primary supporting beams project from the house to physically connect to the landscape and add to the impression of structural gymnastics. A more secluded garden at the rear is connected to the contemplative room inside.
Internally, the living areas of the main house are defined by clean lines and flowing spaces. A sense of volume is created by the double-height space, placed to make the most of the views, both out to the horizon and up to encompass the trees. A south-facing wall of glazed sliding doors fully breaks down the boundary between inside and out, house and garden. Large skylights further draw sunlight into the heart of the home, while a sculptural spiral staircase provides an artistic focal point that connects both levels with ease. On the first floor, bedrooms built to the highest specifications convey effortless opulence.
For the pool building, purity is key. Dynamic sloping sides clad in stainless steel wrap the space and direct it to the horizon. The light-filled space dissolves as it passes through the glazing to three sides of the structure and onto the surrounding timber deck. To the rear is housed the gym and a guest house.
Having worked with Andrew Wallace Architects successfully on a large scale residential development project in Didsbury as the main contractor (Ladson Construction), and given their modern style, it was an easy choice and a good fit to work with them again now on my substantial family home refurbishment and extension. Unlike many Architects practices they obviously put a lot of preparation into the detailed drawings for the Didsbury development which ensured the works on site were problem free. As a company we found them trustworthy and reliable throughout. The Didsbury development won various industry awards for design and construction.
Their expertise and passion for interior design was another key factor in choosing to work with them on such an important project for our family where we never plan to move from and so every aspect needs to be designed thoughtfully and delivered precisely. Their time invested in completing 3D Cad renders and models is really assisting us in visualizing the designs as they progress and is making decisions easier for myself and my wife. It’s also very exciting and adding a lot of fun to the process.
– A. L.
We wanted to select an architectural practise to enable us to transform our Victorian house into a modern family home. We researched the online portfolios of a number of practises and met with our shortlist. We selected Andrew Wallace Architects based on their portfolio and their initial ideas about our project. Having met Andrew and John we knew we could work well with them both and this was important for us too. We produced a project brief but AWA helped us refine our requirements further during the early design stages. The final design addressed the functional aspects of the project alongside producing a huge wow factor. The design is distinctive, contemporary and elegant but one that also sits well alongside the original Victorian house.
They worked with us through the procurement and build stages of the project working with us to ensure the best quality materials were used and desired finishes were achieved. They also assisted with the management of contractors as well as planning and building control. We are thrilled with the final result. It has transformed how our family lives in our home. We would have no hesitation recommending Andrew Wallace Architects to other prospective clients.
– Leo and Louise (Manchester)
I first used Andrew Wallace Architects and Interior Designers to design a delicatessen I developed in city centre Manchester. Andrew personally developed the design and led the project on site. His attention to detail was very high and he had clearly spent a long time considering all aspects of the design and product choices. The resulting design surpassed my expectations. On site he was tenacious with the contractor, never settling for just good enough. This led to a great end product that still came in on time and budget. I believe it also went on to win several local awards.
Recently I came back to Andrew for him to undertake a residential development. Again his designs were outstanding. Unfortunately in the end I was unable to secure the land and the project did not develop to the construction stage. I have come to know Andrew on a personal level and find him honest and straightforward, and I intend to use him again when the right investment opportunity comes along.
– Mr Dhaliwal
I am the director of Derbyshire Construction a local construction company and worked on a project as the main contractor when Andrew Wallace Architects were the architects. I was impressed by their designs for the project as they were much more original than the usual fare. When I later bought an empty plot of land to develop as my own house I went to them to act as the architects. On what was a difficult site in a very strict conservation area they came up with a solution that dealt with all the issues and gave me a thrilling contemporary home that I am delighted with and proud of.
I found their use of three dimensional CAD modelling particularly useful to visualise the house and give us the confidence it would be what we wanted. Their attention to detail allowed me to ensure designs were clearly understood enabling me to keep my budgets set. They also carried out the interior design works on the house which again was simply stunning. I would be happy to recommend Andrew Wallace Architects for anyone considering the use of an architect or interior designer for a residential development. They were very attentive and nothing was ever any trouble.
– A Derbyshire – Derbyshire Construction
I instructed Andrew and John to deliver the design for a luxurious substantial single family dwelling in a conservation area in South Manchester. The brief itself was very demanding and was further complicated by certain inherent restrictions and challenges dictated by the chosen site for the proposed development.
However, in a very short period of time Andrew and John produced a very imaginative design reflecting faithfully the ideas set out in our brief. Moreover, their design turned the limitations imposed by the site in a visually very pleasing aesthetic. The work they produced was consistently of very high quality, delivered against a very demanding timetable and supported by other professional advisers they brought in as and when required.
– Mr Carson
Having worked with Andrew Wallace Architects successfully on a large scale residential development project in Didsbury as the main contractor (Ladson Construction), and given their modern style, it was an easy choice and a good fit to work with them again now on my substantial family home refurbishment and extension. Unlike many Architects practices they obviously put a lot of preparation into the detailed drawings for the Didsbury development which ensured the works on site were problem free. As a company we found them trustworthy and reliable throughout. The Didsbury development won various industry awards for design and construction.
Their expertise and passion for interior design was another key factor in choosing to work with them on such an important project for our family where we never plan to move from and so every aspect needs to be designed thoughtfully and delivered precisely. Their time invested in completing 3D Cad renders and models is really assisting us in visualizing the designs as they progress and is making decisions easier for myself and my wife. It’s also very exciting and adding a lot of fun to the process.
– A. L.
We wanted to select an architectural practise to enable us to transform our Victorian house into a modern family home. We researched the online portfolios of a number of practises and met with our shortlist. We selected Andrew Wallace Architects based on their portfolio and their initial ideas about our project. Having met Andrew and John we knew we could work well with them both and this was important for us too. We produced a project brief but AWA helped us refine our requirements further during the early design stages. The final design addressed the functional aspects of the project alongside producing a huge wow factor. The design is distinctive, contemporary and elegant but one that also sits well alongside the original Victorian house.
They worked with us through the procurement and build stages of the project working with us to ensure the best quality materials were used and desired finishes were achieved. They also assisted with the management of contractors as well as planning and building control. We are thrilled with the final result. It has transformed how our family lives in our home. We would have no hesitation recommending Andrew Wallace Architects to other prospective clients.
– Leo and Louise (Manchester)
The Outcome
For the client, the site was all about the views. Our architects in Bolton produced a design that worked with the naturally sloping site to create two stunning buildings that created drama with the views: from the elevated position of the first-floor master bedroom and internal balcony onto the double-height space; the ground-floor open-plan living areas with extensive retractable glazing; the extended garden from house, through trees, to roof of the pool building; and the pool building cocooned below – all sightlines lead uninterrupted to the horizon.
The project presents the power of thoughtful design in seamlessly integrating modern architecture into a naturalistic environment. The result is a retreat in harmony, celebrating light, space, and nature.
If you are looking to undertake a domestic residential building – please get in touch with our Bolton architects.
