Evermore
A bungalow reimagined as a forever home, designed to support a life that changes without ever feeling clinical.
Julia and Simon came to us wanting permanence. Julia's multiple sclerosis had made their North London flat unworkable, and a move to Aldeburgh in Suffolk offered the unhurried pace they were after. They bought a typical bungalow with a large rear garden and asked us to design a home built to last them 30 years with minimal maintenance; one shaped entirely around their lives.
nimtim stripped back the existing compartmentalised rooms to create a threshold-free, continuous ground floor. Wide pocket doors disappear into the walls, circulation is generous enough for a wheelchair throughout, and a gently sloped ramp is folded into the front garden landscape without announcing itself.
The key move was social rather than technical: the main bedroom sits on the ground floor, opening directly onto the kitchen and living space so Julia stays part of daily life rather than apart from it. Above, a mezzanine houses Simon's workspace and future live-in carer accommodation, kept acoustically open to the floor below.
IAt the centre is a kitchen and pantry built for Simon's love of cooking, with lowered surfaces throughout and a double-height skylight drawing daylight deep into the plan. A recessed picture rail runs the length of the home, letting the couple's art collection move and grow with them.
Outside, deep red Viroc cladding withstands the coastal exposure; inside, Clayworks clay plaster, timber flooring and duck-egg blue joinery bring warmth and quiet colour. Retaining the existing structure cut embodied carbon significantly, and the house runs fully electric via air-source heat pump, with rainwater harvesting and provision for future solar.
Evermore shows that even the most demanding briefs needn't produce architecture that's merely functional. This is a home built for the present, and for everything that comes next.
Julia, client, says;
"Art is a constant presence in the house and a kind of beautiful solace. It changes how I look at things and how I understand the world around me. I’m not an artist, but looking at art is a major part of my life, and here it becomes something that’s simply part of everyday living rather than something separate from it.”
Simon, client says;
"The real driver for us was permanence. Every decision was made with the idea that the house needs to last us up to 30 years with limited maintenance - no constant repair, no repainting, nothing that requires ongoing intervention. We tasked nimtim architects to design it with the intention that we will never move again, so longevity and low maintenance became fundamental to how the house is made.”
Structural Engineer: SD Structures
Photography: Jim Stephenson
Clay plaster: Clayworks
External cladding: Viroc by Craft Design Construction
Windows: okoHaus
