Water Tower in Norfolk house, English second home, Tonkin Liu Architecture Photos
The Water Tower in Norfolk by Tonkin Liu
14 Sep 2021
Design: Tonkin Liu
Location: Norfolk, southeast England, UK
Stephen Lawrence Prize 2021 Shortlisted

photograph © Dennis Pedersen
The Water Tower
Jury Report
The Water Tower is an extraordinary family second home in Norfolk, where a derelict structure has been brought back into viable use. It is situated above and to the north of the local village, down a lane, surrounded by fields. Its prominent position led to concerns from local residents about overlooking and light pollution, and the impact of inhabiting a structure that once provided functional utility to the village but lay dormant as a decaying local landmark.
photo © Dennis Pedersen
The building is divided into two elements, in Kahn?s terms ?served and servant spaces?: accommodation to the north, served by a stair tower to the south. Accommodation comprises ground floor kitchen/dining, two floors of bedrooms and an upper living/dining/kitchen tank room at the top.
The stair and lift tower has no windows and faces towards the village, resolving the overlooking and light issues. The stair is formed from two layers of CLT, with an interlayer spacer, with balusters reusing reinforcement from the original tank room. It is a delightful helical stair, spiralling within its rectilinear box and lit from a rooflight at the top. A glazed ?bridge? link provides access to the northern accomm...