For a century two opposing armies have faced-off. On one side, in formation, stand the functionalists. At their head, austere Louis Sullivan, pioneer of the skyscraper. “Form ever follows function,” his decree, “This is the law.” On the other, in bucolic disarray, lounge the aesthetes, dreamily distracted by the pursuit of elegance at any price.

But here, in Hillmarton Road, in the heart of the metropolis, there is a third way between urban function and pastoral picturesque.