Architecture Wednesday: The Sliding House

There was a man in London who wanted a weekend house, and he owned nearly 4-acres in Suffolk, perfect for it. He wanted a weekend getaway where he and his wife could grow their own food, entertain friends and family, and get away from London's hustle and bustle.

He remembered an old school chum, Alex de Rijke, who was the founding director of dRMM Architects in London: “I knew that Alex had become an architect,” says the homeowner, “and I Googled him and saw that his company was doing amazing work.”

And that's what he got. An amazing house that has now become the primary family residence while a home in London serves as a weekend escape.

 

What he got went from straightforward construction to an inspired, unconventional surprise—a 2,153-square-foot house that transforms from an enclosed volume to a fully glazed, greenhouse-like structure, all with the push of a button. The house slides.

The house was “self-build”, meaning the homeowner managed the construction himself—not a small feat for a building as technologically complex as this one. It begins simply enough with three barnlike volumes—a linear house separated from an office/studio by a patio, and a garage pulled off-axis, creating a courtyard between the three.

Then you get the "surprise": A 20-ton mobile, shell of steel, timber, insulation, and unstained larch wood set on a track system powered by four hidden car batteries charged by solar roof panels--which can also be charged from outlets--that can slide the shell across the site—covering the house, which is glazed from roof to floor, or creating other combinations of partial enclosure.

“There was some internal and some external inspiration for the design,” says de Rijke. “A lifelong love of movement and surprises together with the paradoxical site qualities.” He also liked “playing with the English lack of summer houses, and a love of Dutch barn models and motorcycles.”

The “sleeve” takes six minutes to completely uncover the house, a process, says the owner, which is both smooth and quiet. The interior itself isn’t unconventional, per se, but it’s modern and practical, with low-maintenance surfaces like flagstone flooring and laminated cabinetry. The interior walls, painted red, echo the red- and black-stained larch on the exterior.

A house that goes from “conservatory to cave,” as the owner puts it, might not suit everyone, but he finds it inspires a constant sense of wonder. “The mobile walls/roof let you experience the myriad qualities of the light, according to the season, the time of day, and type of weather,” he says, adding that the design includes a future swimming pool.

“Alex is convinced that one day I will extend the railway tracks to cover that, and perhaps even continue them into the garden and beyond.” Sliding House’s homeowner isn’t the only one who has been moved. De Rijke says he’s heard that other architects’ imaginations seem to have been captured by the project and are working on an unlikely project: a sliding solution for a fashion house in New York City.

 

source

dRMM Architects