Positioned in an extraordinary coastal location in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, an early-twentieth century house has been transformed, through stripping it back to bare its thick stone walls, insulating the facades externally and then recladding in reclaimed Delabole slate.
Maintaining the character of the relatively modest exterior was an important part of the brief, whilst inside, a complete reconfiguration of the internal volumes, and new timber stairs and balconies wound around the old chimney cores to create double height rooms and triple height top lit hallways, afford visual and physical connections between the internal spaces, as well as connections between the interior of the house and the landscape.
Originally raised on a plinth above a basement, the ground floor has been lowered to the level of the surrounding ground. This, and the removal of one chimney core, replaced by a cigar column and spliced beam above, has increased the main living room volume, becoming part barn part large country house and resulted in the creation of tall, elongated openings to the outside where the old window opening once were. The masonry reveals clues of its previous form as fireplaces become wall recesses, and former joist supports become a low-level shelf.
A series of air-dried oak beams make up the exposed primary structure spanning between the existing stone, and larger structural interventions within this masonry are made in in-situ concrete, cast against timber formwork echoing the timber panelling construction throughout the house. Tapered oak verticals are introduced as supports at multiple scales, from the primary drawing room column, to the external veranda posts, to the stair spindles, which are alternately splayed into the oak beams beneath for rigidity, enabling them to remain slender, maximising light & views through.
Sustainability text:
Keeping the original massive primary masonry walls rather than demolishing and rebuilding brings significant environmental performance benefits. The very large thermal mass stabilises the temperatures inside the house while external temperatures fluctuate, keeping the house warmer in winter, and cooler in the hottest summer days. The embodied energy in the original construction is also retained. All of the timber is sustainably sourced. The whole building is wrapped with 200mm of wood fibre insulation beneath locally-sourced reclaimed slates maintaining the breathability of the whole construction. Solar thermal panels within the valley of the roof contribute significantly to the heating system, without being overtly present from the exterior.
