Lutyens Plans: Accommodation and Enrichment

Oliver Cope, Stuart Martin; Host and Moderator: Martin Lutyens & Robin Prater
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The 11th in the series, this webinar is designed to explain how Lutyens developed the plans for his houses - the layout, accommodation, circulation spaces, entrance sequence, etc. The webinar will discuss a selection of his designs and will show how, beneath the complexity and surprises which made his houses famous, they share the discipline of strict geometry.
Speakers:
Oliver Cope, AIA
Oliver Cope received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1980, a Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1985 and taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Cincinnati before establishing the firm of Oliver Cope Architect in New York City in 1988. A comprehensive architectural design firm with a solid base of experience in diverse projects, the firmis especially strong in traditional design and classically American homes in a variety of historic styles. Widely recognized as one of the premier firms for traditional residential architecture in the New York area, Mr. Cope’s work is featured in the firm’s monograph, Oliver Cope Architect - City Country Sea, published by Triglyph Books with an introduction by Clive Aslet as well as in Architectural Digest, Galarie, House Beautiful, and others. Mr. Cope is currently licensed in seven states and is a member of the ICA & Art and the AIA and a member of the Lutyens Trust America.
Stuart Martin
Stuart first encountered Lutyens through the Patrick Nuttgens TV programme that coincided with the Hayward Gallery Exhibition in 1981. He pursued this interest at University, writing a dissertation on Lutyens’ Classical architecture, and beginning his own solo visits to the houses when he could. In his subsequent career as an architect of country houses, Stuart has sought to combine his reverence for Lutyens’ work, with its love of traditional forms and materials with sensitivity to the varying contexts of our own times. He has been a member of the Lutyens Trust for 20 years, and a member of the Events Committee for more than 10 years.
Dr. Robin Prater
Dr. Robin H. Prater was a key member of the group that founded The Lutyens Trust America, and currently serves as their Executive Director. An architectural historian and registered professional civil engineer, Dr. Prater holds a PhD in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), as well as Bachelor and Masters degrees in Civil Engineering. Her diverse background includes designing in environments as diverse as offshore oil platforms and coal preparation plants, as well as teaching at East Tennessee State University, Gwinnett Technical College, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Her dissertation was on the Neo-Georgian architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Introduction by:
Martin Lutyens
Chairman of Trustees
The Lutyens Trust
The Lutyens Trust is a conservation and educational charity dedicated to the preservation, study and promotion of the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens O.M. in all its many forms.
Relevant links:
historicengland.org.uk/listin...
www.littlethakeham.com
www.littlethakeham.com
www.lostheritage.org.uk/houses...
www.nashdomabbeyestate.com
www.lutyenstrust.org.uk/portf...
historicengland.org.uk/listin...

[@user-iu4mu3bv5v]

Thanks so much, that was very interesting. I can’t help thinking that these labyrinthine circulation routes, from entrance to destination, are also based on the assumption that guests would be greeted by staff at the front door and guided to their destination.

[@snappycatchy]

I was thinking of this the other day, that the staircase and screen in Little Thakeham is as satisfyingly a Raumplan as anything Adolf Loos did.

[@simoncattle1434]

Thanks for another fascinating webinar. Regarding the indirect routes that seem to be a common feature of Lutyens' houses, I have read that in the late Victorian era the ideal tour of a country house often involved moving from one room to another and eventually coming back to the point of origin, having not backtracked, possibly including via outside doors and terraces, etcetera. Lutyens was thus not the originator of such an an indirect approach, but he developed the principle to make the experience not just one of showing off one's rooms but a spatial experience: one of changing volumes, heights and expectations. And of course, as the contributors mentioned, it also makes the house seem larger.
At Little Thakeham, for instance, the blank wall facing the front door creates a surprise and a necessary detour, but the long transverse corridor itself is a remarkable space on its own account. By my estimation from the plans, the width of this 'mere' corridor is about half of the width of the Great Hall beyond. Yet from the outside of the house, you would not guess either the corridor or what ultimately lies beyond the detour it initiates. It's an extraordinary management of styles and spaces which one can't imagine another architect conceptualising, so wasteful does it sound, let alone harmonising the elements so well. In any case, thank you for bringing more light to this aspect of his genius.

[@pcatful]

Doors all look "backwards" in the Homewood plan. HIs way was to not reveal the room as you enter .