Fairway View

A golfers paradise that turns a backland plot into prime position

2020
Private Residence

Backland sites get a bad rap. Tucked away, tight constraints, tricky access—most people see problems. We couldn't see past the fairway.

Overview

An ultra-contemporary house on a backland site that most would dismiss as too constrained. Instead of fighting the narrow plot, we worked vertically—three distinct levels, each with its own terrace capturing different views across the adjacent golf course. The white modernist form steps down the site like a ski run, turning what could have been a cramped afterthought into a house where every room opens onto the fairways.

Planning officers needed convincing of course, but our 97% success rate had to start somewhere. The result was a home that proves backland doesn't mean compromise—it just means thinking differently about the constraints.

Location

Derbyshire

Status

Planning Approved

Services

Architectural Design

3D Visualisation

Planning

Area

5,400 sqft

Backland Doesn't Have to Mean Background

Backland sites get dismissed all too often. Too tight, too dark, too much hassle. This one sat behind a larger house with one thing going for it: views straight across a golf course. Most people would have tucked something safe into the footprint and called it done.

Three floors, each stepping down with its own terrace. The top level catches sunrise over the 9th hole—early coffee watching the first players tee off. Middle floor is lunch territory, living spaces opening wide onto a terrace at fairway level. Ground floor connects to the garden with greens as backdrop. Same plot, three completely different ways to live in it.

The modernist white form makes a statement—this is a contemporary house on a golf course, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Bold lines, big windows, outdoor space at every level. The kind of design that works because it's scared to stand out.

Keeping You Connected

The house is full of glass, but it doesn't feel like living in a greenhouse or a fishbowl. That comes down to where the glazing sits and what it's doing.

You're in the kitchen on the ground floor, prepping dinner. Look straight ahead through the open-plan lounge, out past the patio doors, and you're watching players navigate the fairway. Turn around, glance up, and there's a rooflight showing someone on the first-floor terrace above—reading, drink in hand, feet up. The house keeps you visually connected across levels. You're aware of each other without needing to shout up stairs or wonder where everyone's disappeared to.

It's the kind of connection that makes family life work better. Kids upstairs doing homework, visible through that rooflight, while you're cooking below. Partner on the middle terrace with a book, seen through the lounge glazing. Everyone's doing their own thing, but you're still together in the way that matters.

The glazing is strategic. Large glass facing the golf course where you want views and nobody's looking back. Smaller, higher windows on boundaries where you need light but not sightlines into neighbors. The result: you see out across the fairways, but passing golfers and adjacent properties don't see in. Privacy with transparency. It's harder to achieve than it sounds.

And here's the thing about glass placement—because we thought about solar orientation and prevailing winds, the house doesn't overheat. Natural light floods in, but you're not battling greenhouse effect in summer. Opening windows on different levels creates cross-ventilation that moves air through without mechanical help. The house breathes. Glass everywhere sounds great until you're sweating through August afternoons—this works year-round because we positioned it to perform, not just impress.

The Lifestyle Extras

The back garden has a jacuzzi and a putting green. Because if you're living next to a golf course, you might as well practice. Or just soak in the hot tub watching other people three-putt while you've got a drink in hand.

The golf course becomes your borrowed backyard—hundreds of acres of maintained green space you enjoy without lifting a mower. The serenity is built in. No traffic noise, no neighbors peering over fences, just fairways and the occasional satisfying crack of a well-hit drive.

Want to see more?

Explore more of our innovative and sustainable architectural projects.

Ready To Talk?

Get in touch today. Start something special tomorrow.

Get in touch