"Our Programme is to Govern"
Inverleith Gardens
Garden room extension and kitchen
Inverleith Gardens was our first serious building project. Because of our inexperience it probably took far too long to complete but also because of our inexperience it never occurred to us just how difficult the project really was.
The idea of building a garden room that isn't really in the garden at all may seem a little strange but the brilliance of the concept convinced Marion Blythman that she had chosen her architect well.
The outstanding feature of the house were the views from the rear upper windows but, as with all houses of this type, the principal rooms were all placed to the front.
By removing the steeply sloping roof from the existing outbuilding and placing the new garden room there Richard Murphy was able to take full advantage of the panoramic views across the city. By creating a balcony effect when the external glazed elements of the new walls are slid aside the connection with the garden is maintained. The lead roof is supported on this outside corner by means of an external steel post cranked off the side of the building.
Internally the 'garden room' connects onto the main stair of the house but also incorporates a 'secret' stair leading down to the kitchen below and out to the garden beyond.
The project is also memorable for us because it brought my newly aquired neighbour, Hector Gordon, out of retirement as a plasterer. We had discovered some rot in the upper hall ceiling and in remedying the problem a replacement cornice was required and with Hector's expertise we ran the cornice in-situ using traditional methods.
We also met and later employed Kevin Todd a young plasterer who came to the house to repair a rotting door post. At this time we were considering a quotation of
Awards
RIBA Award 1992
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