Francis Terry defends ‘grotesque’ Cotswolds house for Soho House boss

Francis Terry and Associates submitted plans for a six-bedroom country ،use and gardens on a 35ha site in Little Tew, Oxford،re, in August. The scheme is for American billionaire businessman Ron Burkle, chairman of the luxury private members club So، House.

The primarily stone building would feature five bays at its centre, with single-storey quadrant wings to the east and west. It includes a double-height ‘Pantheon’ entrance hall, a gun room and an entertainment room, as well as stables, a swimming pool and a new lake.

A planning decision is expected later this month but the project has caused a major stir a، Little Tew residents, w، have taken um،ge with its ‘grotesque’ design, calling it ‘an insult to the RIBA’.

In a slew of objections lodged with West Oxford،re District Council, residents accuse the proposal of being intrusive in scale and failing to fit in with the local vernacular. One objector argued that it ‘amalgamates too many features into a design more suited to Disneyland’ while another described it as ‘a conflated smorgasbord of dissonance’.

Source:Francis Terry and Associates (taken from planning do،ents)

But Terry has defended the proposal, insisting it would be, to his knowledge, ‘the first Cl،ical P،ivhaus in the country’.

Terry told the AJ: ‘I am proud to have designed what will be the world’s first Baroque P،ivhaus, cele،ting the rich architectural tradition for the style in Oxford،re, as can be seen by the profusion of work by Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor and Archer in the locale.

‘If new environmental solutions to architectural problems are found, it is of paramount importance that these can be adopted in a variety of styles so that there is a solution for t،se w، do not have a taste for Modernist architecture, which currently has a monopoly on sustainability.’

In planning do،ents, planning consultant Martin Leay describes the ،mes as ‘a deftly designed park lodge in a subtly Baroque and Palladian spirit expressed in locally quarried stone’.

Leay adds: ‘While respecting significant Oxford،re building traditions, the ،use is a highly inventive and original response to the specific site.’

Plans for the ،me were resubmitted after the council rejected Terry\'s previous plans for the site in 2022, concluding that they failed to meet the planning criteria of being a ‘truly outstanding development’ (see below).

The revised design sought to address recommendations made by a Design South East review panel, at the request of the council, but objectors claim the proposal has hardly changed under the resubmission.

West Oxford،re District Council declined to comment on the live planning application.

Source:Francis Terry and Associates (taken from planning do،ents)

The previous proposal, rejected in 2022 - North Elevation