The new build house will provide a home for two artists and their families along with painting and sculpture studios in a separate building within the landscape. The house is located in an existing remote secluded clearing on the banks of a small overflow enclave to the River Frome in Dorset and will provide a tranquil retreat within which to live and work.
© James Grayley . Published on May 23, 2013.
The house is born of the landscape it inhabits and is conceived as a sedimentary form extruded from the ground revealing the geology of its place. It is made predominantly from an in-situ concrete which has a softened surface brought about by the use of a Limestone aggregate produced on site using reclaimed stone from the riverbed. The concrete is poured in single-storey heights with the aggregate content varied between pours to reveal the ground conditions and strata from which it is made. The house responds to the local topography, having a formal relationship with the surrounding hills, and rises up to the clearing in the trees to gather sunlight and filter it down to the accommodation below.
© James Grayley . Published on May 23, 2013.
Simple timber structures made from the surrounding woodland will inhabit the concrete volume internally; conceived as over-size elements of furniture they will create rooms within the structure and provide a warming and softened surface where desired. The living spaces will remain as raw concrete and will include a triple height living space through the full volume of the house.
© James Grayley . Published on May 23, 2013.
The spaces within the house have been sized and positioned in relation to view and orientation. Large full-height sliding windows open the house fully to the landscape allowing the living accommodation to become an extension of the woodland beyond. The bedrooms located on the upper floors take advantage of the panoramic views across the Dorset countryside, with storey-height windows opening fully to the woodland landscape beyond.The river typically fills the enclave basin between October and March each year at high winter water, with the house designed and located to reveal and celebrate this annual ritual.
© James Grayley . Published on May 23, 2013.
The structure is designed to have minimal impact on the stunning site and makes use of an existing clearing in the woodland where a derelict building previously stood. Trees from the local managed woodland will be processed on site and used to form the concrete shutter, and the house will be off-grid, generating electricity and heat on site using discreet renewable technologies. Sustainable technologies will also be used to treat waste on site.
© James Grayley . Published on May 23, 2013.
© James Grayley . Published on May 23, 2013.