Award-winning country house designed in Wales
THIS unusual country house has been named Britain’s RIBA House of the Year 2017 – and it was all planned and designed from west Wales.
The 12-bedroom estate for three generations of the family is split into four “turrets” and boasts a games room, cinema and even space to hold live music concerts.
The estate, named Caring Wood, is set in 84 acres near Maidstone, Kent, and is inspired by the Kent tradition of oast towers, which have been used for kilning hops since the 1600s.
Its architects say it embodies the spirit of the English country house and estate while providing a modern twist and eco-friendly features.
Together with the main house, each family has a space in one of the four “oast-house-style” turrets.
Carmarthenshire-based firm Rural Office for Architecture has been working on the project since 2009, from concept through to site completion.
For a small practice based in rural Wales this has been an epic undertaking, proving that you don’t have to be a big business to deliver big projects.
James Macdonald Wright, of Macdonald Wright Architects, was commissioned by his father-in-law to locate a site and design a home for their extended family.
James asked Niall Maxwell, of Rural Office for Architecture, to collaborate on the design of Caring Wood.
This project spanning 1,400sq metres of interior space is jointly authorised by both architects.
Speaking from his farm and current offices of Rural Office for Agriculture outside Newcastle Emlyn, director Niall said: “We designed the house here, we had an on-site architect, but all the bulk of the work was done here.
“Thanks to the internet it proved that you can be based in rural areas and still play a part in projects up and down the UK.
“That’s what it proved to me”, added Niall, who oversees a team of six architects.
“I had been in architecture college in London with James many years ago and he contacted us over the project,”
Niall explained how the house used local building crafts and traditions including hand-made peg clay tiles, locally quarried ragstone and coppiced chestnut cladding.
“Its design is unusual by incorporating the oasts, but they have a purpose with the skylight windows at the top.
“They naturally ventilate the house and make it a comfortable living space.”
He added: “It has everything you would expect from a large country house, but then oasts are their own living spaces, away from the main residence, yet linked, it’s private, yet a shared family home at the same time.
“Then, of course, it has space for concerts too, which is not so common.
“It was a great project to work on and winning the title of RIBA House of the Year is a great honour.”
Having been based in London for a decade, Niall relocated to Felindre, near Newcastle Emlyn, and worked on projects to revamp Cardigan in the mid-2000s.
He added: “We never anticipated winning such a prestigious award so soon.
“This would never have happened without James inviting us to work with him on Caring Wood.”