Brise soleil...
Being south-facing and well endowed with glazing, the house was always going to need mitigation of heat gain in summer, but the brise soleil, or sun breaker, wasn’t always envisaged in the form of bamboo. “e original drawings used metal pipes to cast shadows”, recalls Chris. “But as designs evolved, somewhere along the line we came up with the idea of bamboo. It was a good decision, adding texture and another natural material into the mix”. Fitting the screening to the building’s curves was not straightforward, requiring the use of welded and galvanised steel brackets to secure the bamboo, which itself had to be cut and glued into place
– a labour intensive job at the top of a ladder. “We hope it will last 10 years or so, though it will want redoing at some point”, says Chris. “But it’s worth the effort: in summer it casts beautiful shadows. It keeps the corridor of the house cool – but we love it just as much for the aesthetic, too”.