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Chestnut Plantation

A replacement house sited on a triangular 0.65 Hectare site – a woodland glade – on the eastern boundary of the New Forest National Park.
The house was conceived as a courtyard form with two single-storey wings set either side of a courtyard garden and occupies a natural clearing in the woodland.

The existing house was classified under Local Planning Policies as a ‘small dwelling’, so the replacement was restricted to a maximum habitable floor area of 100m2. A further outbuilding of another 100M2 provides ancillary space – garage, storage and home office/studio space.

Habitable accommodation is located to the north with south and west facing living areas sheltered beneath an oversailing pitched roof, while to the south, across a courtyard garden and adjacent to the boundary, the outbuilding has a flat sedum covered roof. This further provides a buffer from occasional traffic noise on this tranquil site.

The house is essentially a single room, with living spaces to the west and a master bedroom suite to the east, separated by a central service ‘box’ containing bathrooms and storage.  

The front door opens onto a long circulation spine along the courtyard edge and is screened from the adjacent living space by a masonry wall. The principal living area is south facing, with sliding glazed doors enabling the house to be opened onto the courtyard, while large overhanging eaves provide solar shading from summer sun. A guest WC is located behind the kitchen to allow grouping of services.

The house utilises a carefully limited palette of well detailed, robust, low maintenance and sustainable materials: external walls are formed from high-quality facing brick in a grey/buff colour, anchoring the house to the site. Timber cladding and fins are in oiled, natural iroko. The pitched roof over the new habitable wing employs a fully integrated photovoltaic array to the southern aspect, with a dark zinc standing seam finish to the northern side.

Energy requirements are met by a roof integrated photovoltaic array totalling approximately 90m2, which generates up to 9000kwh of electricity. Excess energy provides hot water via an immersion element located in the thermal store.

Status Completed (2021)
GIA m2 100 m2
Structural engineer Engineers HRW
Ecology Peach Ecology
Contractor Rice Projects
Project manager Rice Projects
Quantity surveyor APS Associates
Arboriculturalist Christopher Hoare Tree Services
Project Team Adam Jundi, Tom Hayes
Photography © Brotherton Lock

RIBA South Award 2024 Shortlist

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