A R C H I T E C T
Trained as an architect, Myerscough-Walker was not a typical architect by nature, but a designer, a problem solver and a modernist, with a creative nature that kept his mind constantly restless and more interested in pursuing ideas about the future, rather than dealing with the realities of the present. Although Myerscough was perfectly capable of designing buildings and drawing full architectural plans, running an office and managing staff were never part of his plan, neither were days spent designing buildings he had no feeling for or desire to see through to completion.
The Circular House
Without a practice and a client list, Myerscough’s scope for being commissioned to build houses was limited. He used his articles in The Architect and Building News, writing as ‘Murus’, to convey some of his ideas to a wider public. In September 1934 he published plans and a visual for a circular house.
Typically, the design was innovative, the idea being for a ‘standardised’ house concept, suitable for any site, orientation or size. It was to be built of reinforced concrete, rather than brick, allowing the floors to cantilever out from a vertical central pier, four feet in diameter, which would contain the flues and services. (This is how modern skyscrapers are built today, the core being constructed first, then the floors added, with the non-structural façade being applied last of all).
Wrapped around this central column would be a circular staircase, giving access to open plan rooms, divided as required, rather than being constrained by structural limitations. Balconies would be set around the perimeter, allowing flow from interior to exterior at all levels, with a sun deck on the flat roof. An external staircase, at ground floor level, would allow access to an entrance at first floor level.
The ‘Sun House’, 35 Hallams Lane, Chillwell, near Nottingham
The circular house concept was taken up by RJT Grainger, and a semi-circular house was built, between 1936-37, at Chilwell near Nottingham.
Although visionary, the client was constrained by budget, hence the semi-circular design and partial brick construction. The budget for construction of the circular house was £3,500, the contract price for the reduced, semi-circular, design £2,035.
The house was occupied by the client for many years and it still stands to this day, a tribute to the modernist movement and the architectural vision of Myerscough-Walker.
