A new home for this couple, nestled in a west Dorset village. The design needed to be appropriate to its context in scale, form, and detail.

The clients had planned to remodel the bungalow that was on the site, but it soon became apparent that it would be more cost effective and sensible to start again. It was going to be better value and the resulting building would be superior in terms of its energy performance and the space it provided, with none of the required compromises that the original brief demanded.

Its relationship to its neighbouring properties was important so we retained the scale and proportions of the existing bungalow, with only a small height increase needed to accommodate the new generous first floor master bedroom and yoga room. 
 

The design creates a light vaulted kitchen, dining, and games room to the rear of the house, accessed through the living room and opening to a rear terrace overlooking the garden. Overheating is not a problem as this aspect is north and this together with several opening rooflights ensures cross ventilation is possible to cool the building in summer. Integrated sustainable technologies such as Solar PV film fitted between the standing seams of the roofing generate renewable energy as does an air source heat pump. These things together with the highly insulated timber frame envelope of the new building has resulted in a house that maintains a pleasant ambient temperature with very little requirement for heating.
 

Standing seam roofing and vertical Larch cladding provide a durable skin to the building which make reference to the agricultural buildings of the area. Appropriately for the wooded rural setting the cladding silvers and softens the appearance of the building over time.

Now complete the clients are very pleased with the outcome, soft in appearance for such a new building and sitting comfortably in its’ wooded village setting the house is a simple cotemporary interpretation of the original building.