Creek Vean

Creek Vean is the Grade II* listed residential property in the village of Feock in Cornwall, England. It was the first building designed by Team 4, being commissioned by Su Brumwell's parents, Marcus Brumwell and Irene Brumwell. Construction began in 1963 and it was completed in 1966.

Creek Vean
Creek Vean house in 2006
Alternative namesCreekvean or The Marcus and Irene Brumwell House
General information
Architectural styleModernist architecture
AddressCreek Vean, Pill Lane, Feock.
Town or cityTruro
CountryEngland
Coordinates50°12′28.7964″N 5°2′49.2396″W
Construction started1963
Completed1966
ClientMarcus & Rene Brumwell
OwnerWilliam (Dick) and Gill Dickinson in 2021[1]
Technical details
Floor area350 m2 (3,800 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Project Architects:
Laurie Abbott,
Norman Foster,
Wendy Foster née Cheesman,
Richard Rogers,
Su Rogers née Brumwell
Architecture firmTeam 4
DeveloperMarcus and Rene Brumwell
Structural engineerAnthony Hunt Associates
Quantity surveyorGA Hanscomb Partnership
Main contractorLeonard Williams Ltd
Awards and prizesRIBA Award
Architectural Design Project Award
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameCreekvean and Attached Entrance Bridge and Walls to Road[2]
Designated15 July 1998 (1998-07-15)[2]
Reference no.1375676[2]

History

Su Brumwell's parents, Marcus and Irene Brumwell wanted a retirement home on land he owned in Feock, Cornwall. Marcus Brumwell was the business partner of H. Stuart Menzies who established the Stuart Advertising Agency, and when Menzies retired around 1938–9, Brumwell became the managing director.[3] He later co-founded the Design Research Unit, along with Herbert Read.[4]

The building attempts to fit more snugly into its waterfront surroundings by generating a garden on the roof. As this starts to become overgrown, the house will recede into its creek-side Cornish setting.

—Norman Foster, founder and executive chair of Foster + Partners[5]

Ernst Freud originally drew up plans for the new house.[1] Marcus Brumwell sent the designs onto Richard Rogers while he was still at the Yale School of Architecture.[1] Rogers thought the design "appalling".[1] Rogers felt that the Brumwells should have a home deserving of displaying the artwork of artists such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson.[1] Consequently, the Brumwells decided to commission Team 4 instead to design their new home instead. Team 4 had been established in 1963 by Yale School of Architecture graduates Su Brumwell, Wendy Cheesman, Norman Foster, and Richard Rogers. Cheesman's sister Georgie Wolton also co-founded the firm, and she was the only fully qualified architect within the group, which allowed partnership to function as an architectural firm. However, several months later she had left Team 4. It was the first building to be designed by Team 4.In addition to the four partners of Team 4, Creek Vean is also the work of Laurie Abbott who joined Team 4 as an assistant architect while working on Creek Vean.[6] Frank Peacock was another architect who also involved in the project,[7] along with Anthony Hunt.[2] Richard Rogers was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright in the design of the house after his return from the Yale School of Architecture.[6]

Creek Vean took three years to construct and was completed in 1966, however, construction costs of Creek Vean house almost bankrupted the Brumwells,[8] as it went over budget and over-ran the original timescale.[8] The Brumwell's had to sell a Piet Mondrian painting bought from the artist in the 1930s, to be able to fund the new house.[8] The house ended up with water leaks from the roof, and other structural problems along with heating problems.[8]

Listing and award

In 1969, Creek Vean became the first house to ever receive a Royal Institute of British Architects award.[9] The RIBA award was for Work of Outstanding Quality.[10]

In 1998, Creek Vean was Grade-II listed, it was subsequently upgraded to Grade II*.[11][2] It is listed as "Creekvean and Attached Entrance Bridge and Walls to Road".[2]

References
  1. "How four architects set the agenda for late 20th-century modernism on a quiet creek in Cornwall – and what one of them did next". oup.com. The Modern House. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  2. Historic England. "Creekvean and Attached Entrance Bridge and Walls to Road (1375676)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  3. "Hugh Stuart Menzies". theauxiliaries.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. "Exhibitions as laboratories for professional design practice". oup.com. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  5. "Projects/Creek Vean house". Foster and Partners. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  6. "Creekvean and Attached Entrance Bridge and Walls to Road". BritishListedBuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  7. "Richard Rogers: the man who taught us to love colour". The Guardian. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  8. "Living with a starchitect's early work". ft.com. Financial Times. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  9. "Collectors in Cornwall: Creek Vean House, Nordic Fans under the Grass". www.arquitecturaviva.com/. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  10. "Creek Vean" (PDF). www.rshp.com. RSHP. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  11. Miller, Keith (28 June 2003). "Making the grade: Creek Vean". London: The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
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