A Townhouse for Bath, U.K.

This project called for each student in a small studio class to design a range of townhouses for a site targeted for mixed-use redevelopment along the River Avon in Bath, England. The task was to design the three-story townhouses such that they could be converted into smaller apartments if the demands of the housing market were to shift in the future. The assignment required a close study of 18th- and 19th-Century precedent in the English city — especially the works of John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger, among other exemplary practitioners of the Georgian style. Through the exercise, I explored the proportions of classical features, such as the Palladian or Serliana window, while learning to create adaptable spaces. The design employs light-courts and borrowed light to provide natural illumination to spaces near the center of the narrow and deep units. Each townhouse is also outfitted with a rooftop greenhouse to promote sustainable urban horticulture.