Artist Studios Next Door to Each Other
SEMI-DETACHED ARTISTS' STUDIOS
Lois and Miranda are artists who live next door to each other in west Oxford terrace properties with adjoining rear gardens. The dream for both of them was to build a studio in the garden, so one day, as a building project in one of their homes was drawing to a close, Lois and Miranda asked the departing builder to lay a concrete slab on their shared boundary, straddling each side of the boundary line equally, and to connect each side of the slab with armoured electrical supply cable to their respective houses.
Fast forward to the present, and Lois and Miranda asked us to design a semi-detached studio building with the same footprint as the concrete slab. The studios needed to be higher than permitted development regulations for outbuildings allow, which meant applying for planning permission from Oxford City Council. [Obtaining planning permission is part of the service with Inside Out Oxford...]
The brief was to concoct something quirky, with lots of light, using vintage windows or replica, stained black with dark grey trim, finished inside throughout in ply and sterling board, and connected through the party wall with a party hatch. We sourced and restored an original Victorian sash window from 1895 for Miranda's studio, and built a modern double-glazed copy of that for Lois's studio.
This was an amazing project for us. Lois and Miranda are delighted with the result and are now living the dream as artists in residence!