High Bank

High Bank

House, 1966-1967 by Beryl and John Higgins.

This two-storey, rectangular house combines a steel frame and dark brown brick ground floor with load-bearing lightweight thermal block clad in brown hexagonal hung tiles to the first floor. Internal walls are plastered blockwork. Glazing is generally original aluminium frames with sliding double-glazed sashes which can be lifted out for cleaning; first-floor examples are held in timber sub-frames. Some steel-framed Crittal glazing and glazed doors are present. Painted timber balustrades frame balconies and external stairs. The fascias originally painted ship-lap have been replaced in uPVC. The roof is felted and reads as flat, though a subtle pitch is hidden behind the fascia. A small timber-framed and clad structure on the roof houses the water tank and soil stack.

The ground floor divides into two unequal blocks separated by a wide through-passage that shelters the entrance. The northern block contains a workshop and garden store; the larger southern block holds the entrance hall, dining room, stair, study, kitchen, utility room and cloak room. The upper floor bridges both blocks with a slightly larger footprint. The southern half contains the living room opening onto a cantilevered balcony with small conservatory and steps to the garden. The northern half accommodates two bedrooms, a bathroom and three small bedrooms arranged around a playroom.

The exterior is strongly rectilinear. The tile-hung first floor cantilevers out on all sides over the brick ground floor, with exposed steel platform edges painted black. The cantilever is small to the north, east and west, and substantial to the south. White boarded fascias (now uPVC) were originally capped in aluminium, now replaced in bitumen felt. First-floor glazing is held in floor-to-ceiling timber screens with wide, flat mid-rails; this detail continues in balustrade rails of square balconies cut back into the volume east and west, with balustrade rails held on paired timber posts. The southern cantilever supports an open decked balcony and fully glazed conservatory. Fascias at the wall heads extend outward over the balcony, meeting at a corner post and forming a pergola-like structure. A flight of steps leads down to a raised terrace.

The ground floor is more understated. A continuous band of clerestory glazing runs between the brick wall heads and the underside of the steel deck above, set back from the outer brick face. The top course of brickwork is laid at a slight angle to throw water away, a detail repeated in window sills. Glazing comprises horizontal windows cut down from the clerestory. A wide three-pane sliding glass door opens from the dining room onto a west-facing terrace. The principal entrance beneath the through-passage consists of a flush-panel timber door with ribbed-glass side light. A brushed steel letterbox cut into the brickwork disgorges directly onto the study desk beyond. A secondary tradesman's entrance lies to the east.

Internally, frameless clerestory glazing runs throughout the ground floor. An off-centre spine wall faced in vertical timber panelling separates the hall, study and dining room to the east from service areas to the west. Other principal ground-floor walls are plastered with shadow gaps at their edges. Beech flooring covers the main spaces; linoleum is used in service areas. Door joinery is flush-panel, comprising a mixture of sliding doors and those on rising hinges for greater spatial flexibility. Kitchen and utility units combine simple bespoke built-in cupboards with standardised commercial units. An open-tread dog-leg stair with wide flat timber balustrade rises from the dining room to the first-floor living room. A large built-in planter sits over the half-landing.

The living room is heavily glazed, with the flat mid-rail of timber screens left unpainted internally in natural wood finish, continuing to the balustrade around the stair well, matching external balcony balustrade details. Sliding aluminium doors open onto the balcony. A door leads to the small conservatory, where valley gutters on the glazed roof channel water to an internal water butt.

A hallway at the north end of the living room accesses the bedrooms. The master bedroom has built-in cupboards, a small ensuite shower room and a small east-facing balcony (also accessible from the living room). Children's bedrooms have simple built-in cupboards and are reached across the playroom, which opens onto the small west-facing balcony (shared with the guest room). All upstairs rooms have simple anodised aluminium lever handles.

A brick screen wall runs to the right of the path between the garage and house, with regular vertical gaps offering glimpses into the garden. An external stair between ground- and first-floor terraces to the south-west of the house links the principal interior spaces.