Hugh Strange Architects

Architecture Archive

Architecture Archive

Hugh Strange Architects

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge

ARCHITECTS
Hugh Strange Architects

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
Paul Rawson

YEAR
2014

DISPLAY PANELS
Jude Dennis / Lars Wagner

LOCATION
United Kingdom

BUDGET
£250,000

PHOTOGRAPHS
David Grandorge

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Price & Myers

JOINERY
Andrew Balls

STRUCTURAL TIMBER
Eurban / Stora Enso

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge

Text description provided by architect.

SITE & BRIEF

Located within the context of a working Somerset farmyard, the new building provides an office and store that houses the client’s architectural and family archives.

The project sits within an agricultural valley in a mix of buildings that includes a large farmhouse, a converted Dairy Cottage, a traditional wood store and a mix of barns and sheds that date from the 19th Century, through the 1970’s, to a recently completed cow shed.

LAYOUT & FORM

The dilapidated walls and roof of an old stone and brick barn have been removed and the remaining walls carefully stabilized and repaired.

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge

Within these walls two timber structures have been inserted with a single new roof over-sailing the whole composition and providing a covered entrance.

The two new timber buildings are identical in their volumes but subtly differentiated in their fenestration and fit-out.

The south building provides a drawing archive and display space and is predominantly top lit by a generous roof light.

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge

The North building provides an office space and is characterised by large French windows that offer views to the woods outside.

To the rear of the building a modest external space is provided, enclosed by the retaining wall to the sloping side of the valley, with a generous external stair providing access up to the surrounding woodlands.

CONSTRACTION & ENVIOURMENT

The new building shell is constructed of a single layer of solid wood without insulation, external cladding or internal lining.

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge

The Cross-Laminated Timber panels range from 300mm to 420mm in thickness and simultaneously provide insulation and thermal mass, creating a stable internal environment for the archive in terms of its temperature and relative humidity.

The simple timber forms sit on a rough in-situ cast concrete base and are protected by a profiled cement roof similar to those of the surrounding barns.

The vented space between the timber and the roof cladding prevents overheating during hot summer months.

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge

In contrast to the engineered Spruce construction, the buildings are fit-out with hardwood floor ‘mats’ using timber felled from the surrounding woodlands and dried in the neighbouring wood store.

Rough-sawn Cedar floorboards to the office and smooth-sanded and oiled Ash and Beech to the archive distinguish the different characters of the spaces.

Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge


Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge
Architecture Archive
© David Grandorge


Architecture Archive
Detail Section
Architecture Archive
Axonometric


Architecture Archive
Location Plan
Architecture Archive
Location Plan
Architecture Archive
Site Plan

Hugh Strange Architects
Hugh Strange Architects
1st Floor, 2 Chapel Ct, London SE1 1HH, United Kingdom