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A grand ceremonial entrance creates a dramatic welcome to the sheltered accommodation designed for the elderly Vietnamese who settled in Cambridge after escaping from North Vietnam in the 1970’s. This compact building is dominated by its roof which attempts takes its cue from the traditional Vietnamese style of building.

In order to provide ten homes, a communal dining room, sitting room, worship space, kitchen and laundry facilities within the confines of the 2,350 square-metre site, the building evolved as three wings enclosing a courtyard. Administrative accommodation and a family-sized housekeeper’s flat is contained within the pitched roof space.

Attention to neatness of detailing, expressed by features such as the flush rooflights and the lantern ventilation housing, was imperative to such a compact scheme. As the roof is such a dominant element of the design careful consideration was giving to the choice of roofing material. The large roof overhang is interrupted only at one point: the fully-glazed dining room screen.

Whilst the complex has a communal dining area, each dwelling consists of a bedsitting room, mini kitchen and bathroom, thus allowing a degree of independence. Fully-glazed external doors give residents access to the central courtyard on one side and to individual gardens for cultivation on the other.

The project was won the 1996 Redland Pitched Roofs Awards and was awarded a Commendation in the 1997 David Urwin Design Awards.

“Whilst it is sensitive to its neighbours and respectful of its context, there is a quiet confidence in the freshness and simplicity of its design.”

Redland Pitched Roofs Awards Assessment

Client: Cambridge Housing Society Ltd Quantity Surveyor: Sherriff Tiplady & Associates Structural Consultant: Andrew Firebrace Partnership Services Consultant: David Bedwell & Partners Contractor: Coulson & Son Ltd Contract Value: £578,000 Completion Date: February 1996