Parkgate Houses

These innovative houses were built to designs by Joe Parker of Nelson and Parker by contractor W.H. Benbow & Sons in 1965. The ground floor was constructed from load bearing masonry and the upper floor a simple timber frame, used to achieve the cantilever. The structural solution was the most efficient way of achieving the larger upper floor area and was rapidly and easily assembled on site. The small group of five houses and two bunglaows are found in the small village of Parkgate that was once a port on the River Dee estuary. The rooms in the houses were organised using the geometry of the golden section in plan and in section. The shallow pyrimidial roofs were clad in copper and the external upper storey in timber. The adjoining garages were situated so as to provide maximum privacy to the entrance area of each home.