Peasmarsh House, East Sussex, southeast England
2008
Hut Architecture



The project was basically to extensively refurbish and remodel an existing 1950's bungalow in a beautiful setting on the South Coast. The building was cold and damp, had been knocked around by its previous owners, and was basically a mess of mis-matched spaces, nasty materials and had lost any relationship with its beautiful setting. A particularly nasty neo-Georgian conservatory had been built, and condensation streamed down the painted-shut doors and windows to the south elevation that would otherwise offer spectacular views across the valley.



In effectively recycling the existing building we ended up all but rebuilding it to create a sustainable modern family home. The entire building; floor, walls, & roof were insulated to bring them up to the highest standards of sustainable construction, with the insulation then lovingly enveloped in rough sawn Siberian larch. Deliberately left rough sawn, the timber cladding means the building blends almost perfectly into its woodland setting. At certain times of year the house is literally the same colour and texture as the surrounding woodland. In place of the conservatory a new glass roof encloses a small section of patio and creates an indoor / outdoor space that links the kitchen to the outside.



The same external timber cladding wraps into the conservatory to further enhance the feeling of being outside. We designed new double glazed sliding doors all along the south elevation, replaced and enlarged all the windows, and introduced triple glazed domed skylights so that daylight floods in to the interior spaces, and to maximise the spectacular views of the woodland setting from the bedrooms and living areas. Internally simple materials such as rough timber, polished concrete and galvanized steel are used to create a deliberately unpretentious building and one that will improve with time and use.



Peasmarsh House is on TV in the UK - Thursday 24th April at 8pm - in the Channel 5 documentary “I Own Britain’s Best Home" alongside a broad range of other homes, some clearly architect-designed, some the exact opposite; it will be fascinating to see how the public vote. Hopefully it will inspire people to see that even the humble bungalow, with the right care and attention and a strong architectural vision, can be recycled and transformed into a beautiful and sustainable modern family home.



Peasmarsh House architects website - www.hutarchitecture.com





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English Houses

Sussex buildings



East Sussex house : Ian Ritchie Architects

Sussex café : Heatherwick Studio

Sussex museum : Edward Cullinan Architects

De La Warr Pavilion : Mendelsohn and Chermayeff

Sussex hospital building : BDP

Sussex railway station : DO-Architecture

World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Modern House

Sussex home : drp architects

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The Peasmarsh House - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt