The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced its selection of the best new homes in the UK. Featuring a total of 20 projects, the 2019 House of the Year longlist includes luxury pads, compact inner-city houses, and impressively sustainable homes.
Though most of the homes that feature in the RIBA House of the Year 2019 longlist are located in the south of England as usual, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are also represented this year.
The 20 homes will be whittled down to a shortlist later in the year before an overall winner is ultimately declared. Previous winners have included Lochside House, Caring Wood, and Murphy House.
The visually striking Ghost House, by BPN, is a clear standout. Its design was heavily inspired by the work of Japanese architect Tadao Ando and it was constructed in the grounds of a demolished country house in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The home is actually situated within the country house's original sunken garden, meaning that the majority of it lies below ground level. This makes for a very private interior that receives daylight via multiple courtyards and generous glazing.
House in a Garden, which was also a RIBA London Award winner earlier this year, is another outstanding project. The home fits into a cramped and awkward plot that's boxed-in by larger properties on three sides and previously hosted a dilapidated 1960s bungalow.
Gianni Botsford Architects removed the bungalow and replaced it with a contemporary home that's defined by an eye-catching funnel-shaped roof that's lined in copper. It's topped by glazing that ensures the interior receives daylight.
Buckinghamshire's Lark Rise, by bere:architects, produces twice the amount of energy in a year than it consumes, according to RIBA.
Some of the more notable sustainable technology for this Passive House includes superb insulation, high-performance triple glazing, an energy-efficient heat recovery ventilation system, and a 12.4 kWp solar panel array that's hooked up to a 13.8 kWh Tesla battery system.
Head to the gallery to see more on the 20 homes that make up the 2019 House of the Year longlist.
Source: RIBA
That's the second thing I wonder about. The first regards all the glass in many of these show pieces. In the city, wouldn't you feel exposed to the neighbors everywhere you go and doing everything you do in a place like that, whether you're practicing for Olympic parkour or rollerskating to where you left the telephone or teevee remote? In the country, I don't think I'd like the idea of somebody out there in the dark watching with binoculars from over a mile away as I change into pyjamas or whip eggs or even just read or sit at the computer typing, whether the voyeur has a sniper rifle or is just gathering material for a novel. I wouldn't be able to relax and just be at home. You might say, /Just pull the curtains, then,/ but that would feel silly: We spent a fortune making the house entirely transparent to friends and enemies alike, only to devote an hour a day to making the rounds, opaquing and de-opaquing them, not to mention polishing them. It seems like a chore. Or maybe the curtains are robotic and pull themselves, or the glass can be electrically blanked, and it can electrostatically repel water and dust and slugs and spiders. Hmm.