Artist’s Studio

CHALLENGE

A long-standing client approached us with a beautiful idea: to assist with building an artist’s studio and summer house retreat within the walls of a ruin on their private family estate.

SOLUTION

Working closely with the client and a creative and experienced design team, the existing steading ruins were embraced and captured as an opportunity to reuse the ruin and breathe new life within its walls. This contemporary intervention was viewed as adding a further layer to the rich history that the site possesses. The existing ruins informed many of the design decisions. To maintain the integrity of the ruins the building envelope follows the pitched roof and dimensions of the original ruin gable end. It plays well with the traditional image of the house archetype. To provide a considered contrast to the irregular stonework, the new envelope was inserted within the stabilised walls and clad with crisp dark anthracite steel cladding. This expresses the ruins and allows them to sing. 

Within the envelope sits the shell. This is a playful contrast to the simple stark exterior. The curvilinear enclosure remains guided by the ruins – with the curve’s forms being generated by the existing window openings. This interior tube is made of insulating polystyrene blocks within a gridded wood structure and is covered with Glass Reinforced Plastic. The form creates areas for bedrooms and bathrooms, with the centre of the house being dedicated to the public areas: sitting room, kitchen and dining. The design team were brought together by the client, in collaboration with Lily Jencks Studio, Nathaneal Dorent, Nous Engineering and the team at Savills.

RESULTS

This house sits in a sheltering copse with magnificent far-reaching views. Due to its remote location, and the desire for a low energy home, the building is completely off-grid, using solar power and a battery bank, together with highly insulated walls heated by two wood burning stoves. The number of skylights, windows and bright interior finishes means that even on rainy winter days electric lighting is not needed until dusk.

The studio received numerous awards: Surface Design Award Winner 2017 in the category "Housing exterior surface", RICS Award Winner 2017 in the category "Design through innovation", GIA Award Winner 2017 in the category "Residential".