Tibby’s Triangle, Southwold, Suffolk

Respectfully modern: the scheme is within a Conservation Area and maintains a familiar scale and rhythm of domestic housing that offers a varied roofline without dominating the Grade I listed St Edmund’s Church. The low-walls comprising panels of traditional flintwork create a soft relationship between the front gardens of the new development and the playground at the heart of the Tibby’s Green. Garden gates, doors and windows create an important active frontage.

Harmony: the diversity of construction methods, scale, skyline, materials and façades along the perimeter of the scheme creates a heterogeneous yet overall complementary architectural aesthetic.

Private yet active: the street feels active and overlooked even though many of the ground floor openings are partly shielded for privacy, due to the tight street section. Parking is also cleverly integrated in many different ways so that it does not dominate the street scene.

Material character: The material palette references local precedents and the buff brickwork finished with whitewash or black tar relates to Suffolk’s maritime vernacular.

Informal: rear building frontages are neither parallel nor perpendicular to each other. A more idiosyncratic arrangement of backs and fronts provide visual intricacy and a sense of informality along Loftus Lane and Tibby’s Way.

Legibility: Abstract patterns and material changes within ground treatment indicate transitions from private to more public areas. The tallest, four storey building has an L-shaped protrusion in plan which helps to demarcate and enclose the central square and allows this focal point to be seen from multiple perspectives.