The dark brick facade is read as a solid band above a lighter base, and that split gives the house its clearest gesture. The upper floor appears to hover over a ground level made of wood and glass, while the long brick courses stretch the volume sideways. From the garden side, the house opens much more fully, with large glazing, a pool edge and a terrace set close to the living spaces.

Brick laid out as a horizontal mass

The front of the house keeps the composition compact. A closed wall effect runs across the ground level, and the garden wall and gate continue that line at either side. Above it, the darker brick volume reads as a floating brick volume rather than a heavy block, because the line of the roof edge stays thin and sharp. The long brick format reinforces that impression by pulling the eye along the length of the upper floor instead of upward.

That horizontal reading is what gives the project its strongest identity. The dark brick facade does not sit as a decorative skin; it shapes the mass of the house itself. In the close-up views, the brickwork sits in neat layers, and the underside of the overhang is kept light, which makes the projection feel even more pronounced. The result is a house that is calm in front, but never static.

A lighter base in wood and glass

At ground level, the material shift changes the tone immediately. Wood and glass replace the solid brick surface and make the base feel visually lighter. The transparent areas allow the interior to read outward, while the darker cladding and black window frames keep the whole composition disciplined. This wood and brick contrast is not only about colour; it also sets up the idea of a house that opens where it meets the garden and closes where privacy matters most.

The rear elevation is where that openness becomes most visible. Large openings cut through the facade, and the glazing runs wide under the projecting slabs. Vertical window divisions break up the spans without interrupting the view. From inside, the eye moves toward the trees and the pool terrace; from outside, the house appears to slide between enclosure and exposure in a single gesture.

Shadow lines that shape the plan

The cantilever canopy is not treated as a separate object. It belongs to the house’s geometry and thickens the edge of both levels. Broad overhangs extend above the ground floor and upper floor openings, throwing shade across the glass and the terrace below. In the images, the underside reads almost white, which sharpens the contrast with the dark brick above and the darker cladding beside it. That contrast helps the cantilever canopy mark the transition between interior and garden without shutting it down.

Those overhangs also support the way the house is used. They temper direct sun on the large openings and cast a clear shadow across the outdoor sitting areas. The terrace does not sit as a separate object at the edge of the plot; it feels tied to the open rear facade by the same horizontal lines that run through the brickwork and roof edges. Seen from the garden, the whole rear composition is pulled into one long shaded frame.

Open rear facade facing the water and trees

The open rear facade is the most legible response to the site. It turns toward the green surroundings with wide panes and a continuous visual connection to the garden. The pool sits in that field of view, with the terrace linking water, glass and planted edges in one clear sequence. Nothing here is overdesigned or staged for effect. The architecture simply keeps the rear side open enough for the landscape to register from inside the house.

What makes this side of the building so effective is the contrast with the front. Where the street side is closed and horizontal, the garden side is porous and deep. The openings are tall, the projection above them is broad, and the surfaces around them stay restrained. That balance gives the modern house architecture a strong line of movement: from solid to open, from heavy to lifted, from shaded threshold to transparent room.

Material detail in the brickwork

In close-up, the brickwork does a lot of the visual work. The long format of the bricks elongates the edges of the roof and the slabs, and the horizontal joints keep the surface tight. Against that, the vertical wooden finish at the back adds a different rhythm. The two directions meet without competing, which is why the dark brick facade feels so measured even when the massing is bold.

The darker tones settle easily against the surrounding trees, while the black window frames and dark panel surfaces keep the palette narrow. There is no need for extra detailing to hold the composition together. The geometry does that already: the brick band above, the lighter base below, the open rear facade to one side, and the pool terrace anchored in front of the glass. Together they build a house that is readable from a distance and precise in the detail.

When the light drops across the overhangs, the house becomes even more linear. The shadows under the cantilever canopy sharpen the separation between levels, and the brick courses appear flatter and longer. That is where the project’s strongest quality sits: in the way the floating brick volume, the open rear glazing and the wood-and-brick contrast all work together without drawing attention away from the form of the house itself.

The masonry is laid in a soft wild bond in thin-bed mortar, which keeps the surface controlled and the joints discreet. It supports the same visual logic seen throughout the project: a dark, grounded upper mass above a lighter lower zone, with the garden side opened up and the terrace with pool view held beneath the overhanging lines. The architecture stays consistent from close-up brick detail to the wider garden composition.