Harlequin House

A new block of smart apartments on a prominent site beside one of Oxford’s ring road roundabouts.

This is the successor to the Elsfield Way project, also featured. It is an eye-catching twist on the domestic cliche of the symmetrical gabled façade.

The contextual pitched roofs required by the planners are subverted by the dazzle camouflage of strongly contrasting brick and render shapes. The solid body of the building is dematerialised into a harlequin-esque composition of stripes, planes and triangles.

The building is speculative developer-led housing. Our strategy was to design something with a strong enough composition not only to transcend the standard gabled norm, but also to survive without reliance on bespoke details: the eaves, verges, windows etc. are all standard stuff, but the design is tough enough not to be diluted thereby.

The striking rhythmic chequerboard façade is a new landmark for all those approaching Oxford from the north.