Cavendish Avenue is a tree-lined suburban enclave rich in architectural character and domestic diversity. The houses are large yet individual, creating an interestingly disjointed street frontage.

The new house – a contemporary ‘villa’ – replaces a 1930s detached house which was a crude amalgamation of modernist and rural cottage aesthetics, uncomfortably small and with a series of unfriendly spaces. It has been designed to be of exemplary quality in design, scale and construction, reinforcing the existing overall architectural quality of the street.

The house was very contentious at planning, however the council planning department are now known to use it as an example of how contemporary design can work in existing historic neighbourhoods.

Since occupation, energy use has been monitored and the energy use meets stringent German Passivhaus standards for energy efficiency.