Puddleduck and Sous Les Arbes

Puddleduck and Sous Les Arbes – DLM Architects

DLM Architects are a multi award winning, RIBA chartered, architectural practice, based in Guernsey. The practice was established in 2011 by David De La Mare and specializes in bespoke homes, housing developments and commercial projects.

The practice’s founder was drawn to residential architecture due to the enhanced level of personal collaboration between architect and client, the relationships which form and the emotional investment that develops over the duration of a project. DLM Architects work closely with their clients to design exceptional buildings, creating spaces that are not only beautiful but functional and enhance their clients’ daily lives.

DLM Architects work on a wide range of projects, all with their own unique specifications. Two of the projects which the practice currently have on site are Puddleduck and Sous Les Arbes.
Puddleduck is a 1960’s bungalow which has been completely stripped back, with a first-floor extension being added on top. The renovation works will bring the property up to current building control standards, creating an open plan living area to suit the client’s family needs. Scheduled for completion in summer 2023, Puddleduck will boast incredible views from the newly added first floor, where residents can look across L’Ancresse Common and the neighbouring golf course towards the sea in the distance.

Sous Les Arbes is a special project due to being one of the rare open market properties on the island (open market properties make up just 7% of all housing stock in Guernsey). The project has consisted of a complete demolish and rebuild will span over 5 years from initial concept to completion. The site was chosen for its stunning location on the hillside overlooking Vazon Bay, a beautiful sandy beach popular for surfing and other watersport activities. The two storey 6-bedroom family home is due to complete in August 2023.

PREMIER CONSTRUCTION CHANNEL ISLANDS spoke with David Radford, Technical Director at DLM Architects who described some of the stand out features of the project: “Sous Les Arbes is a unique project, the owner is also a talented interior designer, so it has been a fun project to work on and develop. She is working closely with James Hookway on a number of bespoke fixtures and fittings, including a bespoke marble staircase. The staircase is really different, the treads are going to be carved out of marble and have curved sides where the tread curves up to meet the marble clad walls. This has meant a pre-formed concrete stair being craned into place, this base will then provide the structure for a bespoke marble stairwell – designed in house. The home also has an impressive cantilever at the first-floor level which projects out further than the ground floor, so there was quite a lot of steel work involved to make sure that would hold up.”

DLM have also recently completed the regeneration of La Vallette Bathing Pools. Guernsey’s first sea water bathing pool as originally constructed in 1844 with the changing rooms being added in the 1930’s. Decades of underfunding and the relentless costal environment took their toll with the facilities becoming dilapidated and neglected until a private charity, Viva La Vallette was chosen to oversee the area’s restoration. The whole site has been made more accessible so that wheelchair users can access the pools and changing rooms. A café has also been added with a lift up to the pavilion, which includes a space that can be privately hired out for events enjoying stunning views of the neighbouring islands of Herm and Sark along with Castle Cornet.

David explained: “It’s great to see that the facilities and pools are once again being used to their full potential by hundreds of people every week, it’s one of the projects that I’m most proud of after my 20 years in the industry.”

DLM Pride themselves on creating High quality and award-winning designs. The practice find satisfaction in taking a project all the way through from concept to completion.

David concluded: “Our goal is for our buildings to look just as good finished as they did when they were designed.”