DESIGN

‘Incurvo is ameta-villa’, saysarchitect Adrian
James. ‘Like aclassical villa it sits at the centreofa
beautifulsculpted landscape. But unlike aclassical
villa it does not sit four-squareonaxis, gazing
haughtilydown on aformal landscape in stasis.’
‘Incurvo is all about movement. It is fluid; a
dynamicsensuous formwhich beckons the visitor
around its sweeping curves. This is abuilding that
growsout of the organic curves and folds of its
setting. The house is aviscousformpetrified; it is
an English butte. The strong sense of movement
embodied in the shape is frozen in time within its
brick carapace. The localbrick has aluminous
earthy orangehue, seeminglystill bright from the
heat of the kiln; this house exploits both the
extraordinary plasticity of the humble brick, and
its rough, tough sense of rootedness.’
‘Inside, too,isall about curves and movement;
aloftyentrance hall draws visitorinwardsand then
left, right and up as the space opens and diverges
in all directions. The destinations, the places to
pause and rest, arethe foci of the majestic curved
windows which offer breathtaking panoramicviews
of the garden, water,trees and rolling Chilterns
landscapebeyond.’
‘Incurvo is not just apretty face, however.Itisas
close to being aPassivhaus as acurvy house can be.
The radial windows preclude full compliance, but
the house meets the most stringent benchmarks
for insulation, thermal bridging, airtightness and
thermal comfort. Passivhaus principles have been
adhered to throughout, with aCertified Passivhaus
tradesperson overseeing the entireconstruction.
The end result is adwellingthat will have
Left
Ground and upper floorplan; site plan.
Right
Entrance elevation;living area; master
bedroom suite.
Adrian James writes:
In 1973, the celebratedarchitect Louis
Kahn wrote: ‘You saytobrick,“What do
youwant, brick?”And bricksaystoyou,
“I like an arch.”‘
Apresent-dayconversation might go:
Yousay to brick,“What do youwant now,
brick?”And bricksays:“Look,Istill love an
arch,ofcourse! But Iappreciate that
technology has movedon. Nowadays the
loadbearing job is necessarilywithin an
insulating envelope; whateverbearsthe
weight has to be separated from the
external finish to prevent cold bridging.
Therewas atime –afew millennia in fact
–when Icould be structureand finish
simultaneously. But those days areover.
Nowthereare other materials that can do
the loadbearing and Iammorelikelytodo
the external cladding alone.”
“That is notaproblemthough!And
certainlynot ademotion. Ihave qualities
beyond compressivestrength,and,ifI’m
notcarryingall that internal load,that
frees me up to exploit them.For astart,
Ihave extraordinary plasticity.Mysmall
handyshape means thatangles,cranks,
curves areadoddle–nospecial
fabrication,just me doing what Idobest.”
“Beingthe face of the building,freed
from structuralduties, givesmescope
to be supple and sinuous. Ican be like the
skin of an athlete, ataut layerhugging
andexpressing the musculature
beneath.”
“What do Iwant now? Iwanttowrap
myselfsmoothand taut arounddynamic
curvaceous forms. Iwanttobethe
cheetah’s fur,the sculpture’scarapace.”
14 •IBSTOCK DESIGN •AUTUMN 2016