Picard Lane Home
Linearity, robustness and light set the tone: a deep, narrow plan draws living areas, courtyard and private rooms into an ordered sequence, while red brick, burnished concrete, black steel and exposed fittings establish an industrial rhythm without affectation. Within, the language shifts from façade to lived space: long brick walls, polished concrete floors, exposed steel stair and pale sheet linings draw the eye through a deep, narrow plan, while courtyard glazing and high-level openings bring generous natural light into rooms that might otherwise feel compressed. Even the bathroom extends the industrial character, pairing dark surfaces, a concrete-like basin and a simple timber counter with restrained precision.
Picard Lane Home, designed by
David's ideas and suggestions were excellent and anything but cookie cutterClient
What makes the project compelling is the discipline behind its simplicity. Inexpensive materials are not hidden or overworked; they are used sustainably, sparingly and intelligently, forming hard-wearing rooms filled with generous natural light. The result is neither a nostalgic warehouse pastiche nor a conventional family house, but a confident hybrid: tough, warm, and specific to its place. As the client put it, David Barr’s ideas were “anything but cookie cutter” — an apt description for a house that turns industrial plainness into memorable architectural pleasure.
