Field House is a planning-approved proposal for a contemporary family home within a sensitive Edwardian suburban setting in Kettering.

The site — formerly occupied by a caretaker’s bungalow within the grounds of Southfield School for Girls — brought together two distinct planning challenges: a residential street where overtly modern architecture was likely to be resisted, and the immediate proximity of a school with understandable concerns around privacy, overlooking and safeguarding.

Rather than softening the architectural ambition, the project focused on establishing a contextual rationale capable of earning consent.

Research into the surrounding area revealed a lesser-known legacy of Art Deco and inter-war housing across Barton and the St Michael’s / Wicksteed estates — buildings that embodied optimism, domestic modernity and social change. This history provided a locally grounded precedent for a contemporary approach that was progressive without being disruptive.

The approved design is composed as two interrelated volumes — one in brick, the other in stucco — creating a measured presence that effectively bookends Lewis Road with two expressions of modern family housing separated by nearly ninety years. Gently curved elements and carefully controlled massing draw quiet cues from 1930s architecture, softening the building’s impact while maintaining a clear contemporary identity.

The result is a scheme that achieved planning consent by balancing ambition with care: a modern home shaped by its context, responsive to its neighbours, and demonstrably acceptable within a traditional suburban setting.