Field House

Field House is a new build family home set in agricultural land just outside the area of outstanding natural beauty of the South Downs. The brief was for a house made from natural materials, stone and timber, that would sit harmoniously in its rural context and make the most of its wonderful site with sweeping views of the landscape and distant hills to the South. It replaces a small dwelling on the site and a series of dilapidated barns.

The stone base of the ground floor carries the upper storey which is clad in home grown western red cedar. The roof form is undulating around the perimeter, taking its formal cues from the old timber barns on the site. The form and motifs of this house make direct reference to Sussex House, previously design by Wilkinson King, in the field above. Appearing like a separate fragment of the house is a roost for the resident bats, carefully rehoused in the roof space above the garage, which forms the Eastern boundary of the arrival courtyard.

Field House is arranged over two floors and organised around a generous double height entrance hall. On the ground floor a continuous ribbon of full height glazing connects the living spaces, on the South side, giving views over the meadows and the Downs beyond. There is a large family sitting room with a hidden snug, and a kitchen/dining/living room, to the West, where the owners spend their days enjoying the views and beautiful sunsets. Ancillary spaces are situated along the North side.

On first floor there are four bedrooms, all of dual aspect, and a family bathroom surrounding the galleried landing, which is bathed in natural light from above. The master bedroom has large windows to the South and gives out to a Westerly terrace.

The first floor overhangs the glazed South and West elevations of the ground floor to provide protection and shade in the summer months. This is supported on a series of rectangular stone columns, formed from large single pieces, sitting below a continuous, wide, solid stone beam which zig zags the length of the Southern elevation. The structure creates a stone loggia which mediates the threshold between inside and out. This is book ended with massive columns (1200 x 2600 x 400mm), which are repeated to create a stone entrance porch to the East.

The structural timber walls of the North and East elevations, with their solid stone outer leaves, support deep Douglas fir floor joists and boards. These run North to South across the plan spanning onto the stone beam to the South. The rhythm of the joists echoes the rows of the surrounding vineyards. CLT forms the entire structure of the first floor, and like the limestone and the Douglas fir, is left exposed to create a warm and natural interior finish.

These three materials come together in the vertical space circulation space of the entrance hall where the structural diagram is clearly expressed. Here a solid stone staircase turns on a quarter landing, which is cantilevered from a double height structural stone wall at the centre of the plan.

Made from structural stone and timber Field House is highly sustainable in construction, achieving the equivalent of minus 85kgCO2/m2, and is designated and oriented to achieve a high level of energy efficiency. It is highly airtight and is very well insulated. An air sourced heat pump provides hot water for the bathrooms and under floor heating though out. There is a low energy MVHR system. There is abundant day light in the interior and shading to the south and west prevents overheating.

Stone House