Chant De La Mer

Godel Architects were appointed to demolish and rebuild a family home on a hillside site in St Brelade, with enviable views over the bay

There was originally a bungalow on the site, to which extensions and alterations had been made over the decades. This resulted in an incongruous and poorly laid out building, the access to which was awkward and uncomfortably enclosing, rather than open and welcoming.

Godel Architects designed a new home that is split over three levels, formed to not only take advantage of the spectacular views, but to flow in a welcoming and easy manner, providing carefully proportioned rooms, filled with light and air. This was achieved by the introduction of carefully oriented and sized openings, giving near views into intimate, attractive landscaped courtyards and open terraces and patios, with extensive views out to the bay and the sea beyond.

The amenities incorporated into the house are equally luxurious and include a basement indoor swimming pool and sauna, a wine tasting room and separate wine store and an environment-controlled interior store, equipped for out of season clothes storage. The bedrooms have hidden televisions, which are lifted into the ceiling when not in use, allowing the user to have breakfast in bed whilst watching the morning news, or taking in the spectacular views, or both.

The architecture was designed as a series of solid and void spaces on the sloped site, forming courtyards, designed to take in light at different times of day and to add moments of interest to the experience of walking through the house. One of the most successful attributes that this house possesses is its ability to still feel intimate and homely, despite its scale and elevated position.

Godel Architects not only designed the building, but also to acted as lead designer, overseeing and coordinating the work of a local Contractor who constructed the basement areas and external works and a specialist German Contractor who are experts in the field of prefabricated construction and energy efficiency. The building achieves superb energy ratings, by various means, such as the high thermal efficiency and airtightness of its fabric, air source heat pumps for heating and hot water, and photovoltaics and battery storage to charge electric vehicles with; the collective outcome of which is a building which performs so well, that it actually generates more energy than is consumed, making it completely operationally self-sufficient, with “zero-carbon” capability.