In the children’s bedroom a Finn Juhl chair partners the desk, next to curtains made by Pat Giddens in de Le Cuona’s ‘Barbarian’ linen in oats. Curved windows look out over the living roof and the architectural metal stems.
James McDonald
Throughout the house, the walls are finished in dappled, textured clay plasters handmade in Cornwall by Clayworks. Non-toxic and thermoregulatory, this ancient material is well suited to covering the building’s gentle curves – a Michaelis Boyd hallmark. ‘Why do we build corners when our bodies are not made with straight lines?’ asks Alex.
It is a good point. The rounded edges of Leaf House appear natural, sympathetic and inviting, almost nest-like – a feeling that Alex has underscored by the quiet incorporation of nature itself into the house. This is something he seems particularly excited by – in fact, he envisages a new world in which nature does not just inspire architecture, it is architecture: ‘Creepers that don’t just cover a structure, but support it, buildings that respond to the seasons.’ It sounds a little futuristic. ‘Of course it is,’ he says. ‘Architecture is ideas – it only really exists in the future.’ He is right, but I would argue it exists in memory, too. I know I shall remember Adlestrop
Eco credentials
Challenges
To design a newbuild house that is off-grid and exists in harmony with its natural surroundings.
Solutions
Alex Michaelis devised a biomorphic design based on the shape of leaves, built from limestone quarried on site and Dinesen timber from sustainable woodlands. Solar panels, air-source heat pumps and a borehole water treatment system provide electricity, heat and UV-filtered water.
Also of note
An underground Klargester tank uses microorganisms to break down waste, which drains into a marshy planted area.