Timber and Standing Seam House
Campions, Near Bridport
This new home was built in 2017/18, nestled among a backdrop of mature trees and a babbling brook in a West Dorset village near the town of Bridport.
The design needed to be appropriate to its context in scale, form, and detail and whilst it was important the house was low key from the front amid its village setting, it was also important to the clients that the spaces were uplifting and contemporary.
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 compromises that the original brief would have required.
Its relationship to the 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.
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Project info +
The design created 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 the summer.
Integrated sustainable technologies such as Solar PV film fitted between the standing seams of the roofing generate renewable energy, offsetting the 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 contemporary interpretation of the original building.
