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a warning that the whole Fleet project was to be reviewed surely sped the decision.”Noble was yesterday unavailable for comment.But one RSC insider did not believe that the Arts Council rejection led to the resignation, as the plans could have been revised. The Royal Shakespeare Company has seen many dramas played out on its stage in its 44-year history. Shame that the bass player could not work his magic on more tracks, for he often had to help out with percussion, as Orishas had lost the breathtaking services of the Buena Vista Social Club associate Anga Diaz. The trumpet-player’s jazzy solos got lost in the mix, too.Still, Orishas are proving that they can update Cuba’s musical strengths and show the US superstars how to perform live With a big band, they could be great.. But when its artistic director Adrian Noble suddenly quit his post in April 2002 after his plans for a radical shake-up of the way it did business foundered, the art world was astonished.

With sprightly piano figures and vibrant brass stabs, there was a party feel even around the more melancholy numbers, apart from the anaemic R&B boy-band balladry of El Kilo ’s title track. The backing was so pristine, in fact, that you found yourself yearning to glimpse the band that had laid down such catchy tunes.The two musicians who did make it on stage were not quite enough. Over Orishas’ regular percussion and scratching, a bassist occasionally aided the changes in pace, especially with the cooler reggae feel he injected into slower numbers “Distinto” and “El Kilo”, while “Stress” had the depth of a cavernous dub plate. After two albums of salsa-infused rap, for this year’s El Kilo Orishas added a live band for a richer, more layered sound. Judging by the audience at this gig, the new direction is working. Among the chic Latinos and grey-haired Cuban solidarity campaigners were a few kids who looked like they were more at home with Jay-Z than Ibrahim Ferrer.Not that Orishas showed any interest in their mainstream potential. Although they formed in Paris, they rapped in Spanish and spoke in that tongue to a noisy crowd that danced out of their seats throughout.Despite this, it’s clear that Orishas’ strength remains their ability to cross genres effortlessly.

The crooner Roldan Rivera and his rap compadres Ruzzo and Yotuel were comfortable with the same perky rhythms and showed true class when they came together on harmonies. It was altogether more seductive than your typical hip-hop thuggishness, even with the evening’s “Hey, ladies” moments. The trio pulled girls from the crowd to dance, but with genuine smiles rather than lascivious grins.Their set relied almost entirely on the current album, which was fine as it was their most fully realised work to date, ranging from the dramatic, whispered “Stress” to the carnival mayhem of “Tumbando y dando”. Neighbours were given the opportunity to voice their objections but, says Browne, “there was not one single objection; the previous occupant had started work at 6.30 every morning, rattling the chains on the gate and revving up his transit van, so the neighbours welcomed the idea of a residential development”.The planning stages were extremely slow.

Browne felt confident that as long as they increased the square footage of the business usage within their development, they would get permission to combine it with residential use. Live/work units are notoriously difficult to place, however, and the committee stages of the application dragged on and on. Seven months later permission was finally granted.Built around a steel frame, the exterior of the house is clad mainly in cedar, and, although the boundary walls are London brick, there was very little masonry work involved, resulting in a flexible design that could be adapted as necessary with minimum disruption. Browne used galvanised steel rainwater pipes, made by Lindab.At ground level, there are three huge office rooms, divided by white walls with full-height doorways A continuous wide-planked oak floor unites the spaces. The interior is lit by full-height windows, and though it is flooded with early-morning sunlight, the interior remains cool in summer.Separated by a sliding screen from the office area, the kitchen and dining room are bathed in daylight which comes through a clever electrically-operated sliding glass panel in the roof, originally designed by Italian tomato-growers for greenhouse ventilation. Here the floor has been sunk by 18in to provide increased ceiling height. Full-height glass “concertina” doors fold back to open onto the garden.The clean lines of the kitchen are accentuated by the glossy white cupboards and stainless steel worktops and, though the interior looks uncompromisingly modern, it hides a mass of clutter.

“We are both incredible hoarders, unable to throw anything away,” says Browne, “so we have incorporated acres of hidden storage space.”The building stands beneath a mono-pitched roof, a design decision that was made to ensure that the building did not overshadow the neighbouring houses. Glass lights along its length provide natural daylight to the bedrooms on the first floor. And the same material is also used to great effect in a different way in the en-suite shower-room, where the walls are clad in thick sheets of white-coated glass. You can most appreciate the remarkable length of the building at the top of the stairs, where the 22m corridor disappears into the bathroom at the far end Close-carpeted, the striped pattern accentuates the length. “This is the perfect place for setting up a train set, and the boys have had hours of fun in this corridor,” says Browne.As a first self-build project, the house has been a success.