Richard Pawson

Almost all of my work is now concerned with the development and application of the NakedObjects pattern, which grew out of my research into object-oriented design and agile development techniques - culminating in my PhD thesis. (The external examiner on my thesis was Trygve Reenskaug, the inventor of ModelViewController). With Robert Matthews, who authored the open source Naked Objects Framework, I founded nakedobjects.org.

I have a passionate interest in building architecture - see AlexanderAndBuildingArchitects.

Richard, I was intrigued by your comment on AlexanderAndBuildingArchitects that you used 45 of Alexander's patterns in the design of your house. Would you be willing to expand on this? Questions to consider: which patterns did you choose, and why? Which did you want to use, but didn't (and why)? Which were forced on you by building codes? If you could build your house again, what would be different? -- MarkIrons?

OK. First, some general introduction. Our house is located near Henley-on-Thames in the UK. It was built from scratch on the site of a previous house that we demolished. The new house is of brick construction, approximately 3000 square feet, and its external styling Victorian (50 degree roof pitches, gables, subdivided casement windows) and very much in keeping with the style adopted in the Southern Chiltern hills during that period. So the predominantly red brickwork has some blue-glazed header bricks forming diamond patterns in the gables. Internally it is built to very high modern standards including concrete floors upstairs and down, underfloor heating ('radiant heat') and, of course CAT-5 cabling throughout. I have no training in architecture, but plenty of personal interest. I used a building technologist to advise on building regulations.

The house design adopts some 45 of Christopher Alexander's patterns. Some were unconsciously adopted - and can be seen in most modern houses. Others were a conscious choice. Very few were consciously rejected ('hanging tiles' is one I don't like). Some were not applicable or would not have been acceptable to the planners.

(BTW, I've put the CA patterns in quotes. They could be turned into WikiNames, but only if there was interest from several people in using these patterns. It's somewhat off-topic.)

Perhaps more important than using specific patterns, I consciously attempted to adopt the Alexander ethos. My adoption of the CA ethos started with the site. There's no such thing as greenfield building sites in this part of the world so we looked for a house to knock down. We knew that the new house would have to broadly adopt the footprint of the existing house, with some scope for extension. The house we chose had a 2x1 rectangular footprint with the major axis aligned E-W. The plot is also long and thin, but along the road rather than perpendicular to it. The rear of the house and plot face open fields (very close the house) and are also south facing. This combination of features more-or-less gave us: 'south facing outdoors', 'long thin house' (sort of), 'half-hidden garden'. The front of the house is close to the road (a country lane) separated by a waist high wall and, miraculously, the ground level is 50cm above the street. This gives us the effect of 'private terrace on the street' and I often lean on that wall and chat with neighbours walking past. (My study also overlooks the street, which was partly to get it north-facing but also so that I can chat to passing neighbours through the open window.)

Next, I adopted the CA maxim that you should start with a single room and position it in relation to the site as a whole. For us this had to be the kitchen/dining room, which is the social centre of the house. This holds the central position, with great views over the fields. It is very much a 'farmhouse kitchen', complete with an Aga. Off the working side of the kitchen are a laundry room and separate pantry. Off the dining side of the kitchen are a family room, and more formal living room. (The latter is an unusual choice - most people would put it off the hall. But the reality is that arriving guests do not want to be channeled off into a room - they want to go into the kitchen. Maybe later you can get them into the living room. This arrangement helps with the 'gradient of intimacy' pattern - which is reinforced by deliberate changes in 'floor surface', from polished Tuscan limestone in the central areas to a similar coloured carpet in the more intimate rooms. I also tried to use 'variable ceiling heights', though not as much as I would have liked - they vary from 2.4m to 2.6m, although the kitchen/dining also has an unusual light-well extending to the upstairs. The kitchen also has a 'window seat' facing onto the fields.

The house is light and airy. We managed to get natural 'light on two sides of every room'. The emphasis is on lots of medium-sized windows, which are all subdivided into many 'small panes' rather than large picture windows which most people put onto a view. All windows have 'deep reveals' - which are also splayed outwards as shown in CA's diagram. (This softens the lighting wonderfully). Upstairs there are some 'dormer windows' and some rooflights, because the house has a 'sheltering roof' (i.e. the bedrooms all have partially sloping ceilings.

Upstairs there are four bedrooms with three bathrooms. There was space to do at least five bedrooms, but we chose instead to have a large communal area in the middle of the upper floor ('common areas at the heart'). This is used as a library and a studio area. The 'gallery surround' light-well from the kitchen comes up here. There are french doors onto a small wrought-iron balcony, which violates 'six foot balcony'. (He's right about that if you want to use it as a balcony - but we just want to be able to open the French doors outwards.) Just inside these door forms a wonderful 'sunny place'. Having the communal area in the centre, separates the 'couple's realm' (master and guest suites) from the 'children's realm' (2 rooms and family bathroom). Naturally the adults get the benefit of 'sleeping to the East'.

Outside, between the kitchen/dining and the fields is an enclose patio. The house indents to half enclose the patio and the retaining wall on the other side has been outdented to match, forming a 'positive outdoor space', and, effectively, an 'outdoor room'. The retaining wall falls in height at the edges to form a 'sitting wall'.

The other thing I paid very careful attention to was the whole approach and entrance to the house. The house has a prominent and central porch making a clear 'main entrance' from the outside and forming an 'entrance room' that is in fact half inside and half outside the front wall of the house. Stain glass windows on either side of the porch provide 'filtered light'. The porch leads through 'solid doors with glass' into a hallway, with the 'staircase as a stage' entering into it also. But the point is that a staight line leads from the road, through the gate, porch, hall, centre of the kitchen/dining and out through the french doors to the patio and fields. That line (which is not very long) passes through several levels of floor and ceiling, as well as multiple shades of light. That line is the central symmetry axis of the house and it draws you straight into the heart of the house. So many visitors have commented on this. Above all else, the design pursues the pattern of 'structure follows social spaces'. It's a great party house.

There are other minor CA patterns also, but I think I've covered the main ones.

I hope this doesn't sound like showing off . . .it's not meant to be. I just loved designing the house and we all love living in it.

I had the opportunity to discuss some of this with CA personally over dinner and he has even promised to visit the house when he's next in the UK (though I'm not sure it will happen) I think he would recognise his ethos in the design, although I know he would be critical of the fact that the design and build was (in software parlance) a single iteration. He would like to see it more organic, literally unfolding over many years with extensions and modifications. However, he doesn't have to deal with the planners at South Oxfordshire District Council (known as the SODC or "sods", locally) - who are amongst the most inflexible in the country. (To be fair, that's why the area is so nice).

Incidentally, the whole house was constructed in just 22 weeks - that's from the bulldozers coming in to demolish the old one to us moving into to a fully finished, decorated and landscaped new house. It's a case study in good project management (for which I can't and don't take the credit).

Richard: My parents' house was designed from A Pattern Language. My father and I built it, but the design was his - I haven't read the book myself. I can put you in touch with him by email if you'd like. -- CarlMeyer. Carl - if I can find half a dozen examples, then I'd like to think about startng a separate wiki just on the application of CA building patterns, preferably with lots of photos of the patterns in situ. Would you ask your dad if he would be interested in principle? Thanks

It would be very nice to see some pictures of your house... -- GarethMcCaughan

Richard, questions on NakedObjects through my search on MDA vs SoftwareFactory? material -- DavidLiu

Given NakedObjects have its origins in Java space, is it likely that a DotNet implementation of NakedOjbects? framework tool (e.g. http://sharptoolbox.com/Tool4ffe2dfa-73ee-4566-9f05-41ac8d3aba79.aspx) would prove to be too much of a ImpedanceMismatch? Would you support/refute the above assertion with some comments?

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