A house in Leamington Spa embraces its natural site

House in Leamington Spa with swimming pool and white volumes — (Image credit: Richard Chivers)

This new house in Leamington Spa may now look like a green, domestic oasis, but as its author, architect John Pardey explains, it was a project that challenged his studio on various levels. Set on a flood plain as well as a conservation area just south of the banks of the River Leam, the scheme for a private client required expert planning and fine-tuning; which, with the close collaboration of the owners and Pardey's team specialist skills, resulted in the lush, contemporary home set within a walled garden within its quarter-of-an-acre site.

Tour this green oasis, a new house in Leamington Spa

Planning their project's volumes carefully to both manage the flood risk and adhere to the conservation area's overall character, the architects crafted an L-shaped home with a mono-pitched roof. This shelters part of the house's expansive outdoor areas, which include a swimming pool and leafy garden.

The single-storey structure feels close to the ground, but is elevated on brick piers which protect it from flooding. Meanwhile, air source heat pumps efficiently power both the house and the pool area.

Inside, the building's two distinct wings house three bedrooms linked on the corner by the entrance lobby. There, a steel staircase (with provision for a future hydraulic lift) leads to the main living and sleeping areas, which are spread across both sections of the house.

Sunlight, orientation and materiality (such as the off-white timber stain) are carefully planned to ensure the home feels flooded with light but also remains discreet and in sync with its Regency style wider neighbourhood's surroundings.

The outdoor areas were equally carefully planned, Pardey writes: 'The south-facing garden is centred on a new outdoor pool and kitchen area – to recall the sunny days of one of the owners who had spent their childhood in Brisbane – and this is nestled into the landscape architect Nick Dexter’s combination of wildflower and productive garden planting.'

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).