Fiddes Architects were approached by the client to provide a design for a bespoke ancillary building located in his grounds to provide a space for him to store and maintain his car & motorbike collection and include a home office space..

The client made clear his passion for industrial design and aesthetics and was keen that the garage should be an extension of this passion and become a space in which he spends his spare time tinkering and fettling with his Land Rover and motorcycle collection.

The design intends to provoke a contemporary feel using a simple material palette, while embracing elements that provide a relation back to older architectural styles familiar to the area.

The use of natural grey zinc standing seam roofing and cladding provides a modern response to local rural industrial buildings such as farm steadings and byres. This material choice allows for a relation to steel barn style buildings within the local area but maintains a more formal and regimented appearance allowing it to fit seamlessly into the domestic rural setting. Zinc requires very little to no maintenance over its life time meaning a potential life span of well over 100 years is achievable.

Siberian Larch cladding in a rainscreen profile has been used both horizontally and vertically with minimalist junction details throughout the exterior. From the sustainable & aesthetic benefits, this material choice was in direct response to the woodland site context and to provide depth and texture to the volumes highlighting the openings in the zinc cladding. The cladding has been vacuum coated with a silicone system to help to accelerate the natural silvering process and generate a cohesive colour palette across the facade.

Internally the large garage and workshop space is a deeper extension of the clients passion for practical industrial design. The walls are lined with plywood, defined by shadow gaps between boards, and punctuated by the large steel portal frame coated black to accentuate the industrial nature of the structure and volume. The space is finished off with a hardwearing polished concrete floor & finishes such as a sliding container door, reclaimed factory pendant lights and industrial style switches all of which further celebrate the industrial character of the building.