Portal House is a new, low-energy home, nestled on a steep, wooded site on the West Wales coast.
Arranged across one storey, the home features a minimalist, linear floor plan, structured around the family’s main social spaces, including the snug, kitchen, dining and living room. As such, these most-used spaces enjoy abundant natural daylight and sunlight, alongside panoramic ocean views from all angles. At the cornerstone of the design is the home’s namesake – a sleek, concrete portal frame that acts as a unique outdoor living, dining, multi-use space. Extending out seamlessly from the interior, the sheltered portal enables the homeowners to use this outdoor space in any season and weather.
Towards the rear of the main house, the interiors turn away from the coastline and towards the secluded woodland and wildflower gardens that make up the rest of the site. From here, the living and dining rooms open out into a secret courtyard with a fire pit and circular plunge pool – creating an additional social space for family gatherings, away from coastal winds.
Three timber sleeping pods are arranged around the edges of the courtyard, including the primary suite with a dressing room, free-standing tub and roof terrace above. Gently nestled into the landscape, each bedroom benefits from a sense of enclosure to retreat into. For the primary suite, Hyde + Hyde have struck a careful balance between layering and transparency – affording the room privacy by setting it back from the main house, while introducing expansive glazing that allows seamless views from here, through the courtyard and the main interiors to the coast beyond.
Alongside plentiful planting to support the native biodiversity of the site, the home’s landscaping is defined by a dedicated guest suite in a bespoke garden annexe, a series of terraces and an infinity pool, which reflects the proportions of the portal frame structure. Hyde + Hyde’s design also features a storm shelter that cantilevers out from the hillside, immersing the homeowners even further in this unique setting and offering a new perspective on the coastline.
Designed with sustainability in mind, Portal House feature a distinct pitched roof and angled glazing. This has been orientated to maximise natural light and support passive ventilation throughout the home. At the same time, solar shading devices have been added to manage any risk of overheating from direct sunlight. The pitched design also enables rainwater harvesting – a valuable addition given the changeable Welsh climate. To minimise reliance on and consumption of non-renewable energy sources, Portal House is powered via an air source heat pump and PVs. In terms of materiality, the home utilises sustainably sourced timber for its primary structure. Where the use of concrete is necessary due to the site's complexities, it will employ local aggregate sourced from local suppliers.
