THE LASLETT HOUSE
One example of a typical modernist building can be found on Clarkson Road, Cambridge. Trevor Dannatt designed and built the Laslett House for Cambridge professor Peter Laslett in 1958. In 2004, the building became listed by English Heritage. Trevor Dannatt is one of the most important figures in modern architecture and is famous for his abstract yet elegant designs.
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The exterior of the house is made of brick, wood and glass. The wooden slats are stained rather than painted so that the natural structure and texture are not hidden. Unusually the brick walls are painted, however Dannatt has ensured that the texture and the natural patterns in the brick are still visible. Where necessary, neutral, subtle colours were chosen to decorate the exterior of the house. Dannatt also clearly prioritised function in his designs as the building has a simple flat roof. Having a poorly designed, picturesque, A-frame roof, would have taken up extra space and have provided no benefits in terms of function. The Laslett house seems to be a relatively traditional shape, however there are slight differences. The wooden, first floor walls slightly overhang the ground floor brick walls which makes the house appear top heavy. This makes the first floor rooms slightly more spacious inside, while also seeming to be a unique and individual design from the outside. Architects that do not work in a modernist style would usually have designed the house to be the same size both upstairs and downstairs, and simply disguise any unnecessary space created. Beams and frames holding windows in place have also not been disguised by Dannatt.
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Dannatt took a similar approach when designing the interior of the house as he did when designing the exterior. The house to have 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, a reception room, a dining room, an open fireplace and a garage. All rooms in the building are open plan and have large picture windows that let in extensive amounts of light and overlook the garden. The walls have not been plastered and have simply been painted white. This means that Dannatt has still allowed the texture of the brick to be seen. Other walls in the house are made of wood panels; these have been stained rather than painted to maintain the natural effect the wood gives. The house is an honest representation of how it was made. Much like the exterior of the house, any wooden beams needed to support the ceiling are visible and have not been covered and disguised. The floor and stairs are also made of wood. Rooms that lead to the stairs, or other areas of the house where it is necessary to divide one area from another (rather than being open plan), are usually separated by glass windows or panels. This allows the house to be much more spacious and much lighter; rooms are able to share light as they are not separated by opaque brick walls.
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Location was clearly also very important to Dannatt as the house is situated in a convenient, residential area, within easy reach of the city centre. Despite this, the house, gardens and garage all continue to offer a great deal of privacy.
