Ashton Porter Architects' extension to a Victorian farm workers’ cottage creates a joyous and inventive space
East RIBA Regional Award 2022
Ashton Porter Architects for private client
Contract value: Confidential
GIA: 175m²
A simple side extension to a Victorian farm workers’ cottage, in green belt farmland. The addition provides two square volumes in plan: a living room, set off from an opening in the flank wall of the house by a glazed dégagement, and a garage. Like the gate that links them they are faced in charred timber on a timber frame. The house is named for the extension’s 12mm plywood gridshell ceiling.
From having little visual relationship with its surroundings, the house now luxuriates in views from three sides of the new living space. It is a joyous and inventive space. A fabric-first approach is used to uplift thermal performance and included an air source heat pump; it was notably the best performing domestic project from the region’s shortlist for water use efficiency. Reduced embodied carbon and construction efficiency were helped by significant use of timber for structure and cladding and offsite manufacture