Abbey Cottage

A sustainable and comfortable garden room, whatever the weather

Many homes are orientated in less than perfect ways, like this Grade Ii Listed cottage with a due west facing garden.

An existing lean to conservatory offers very limited usage throughout the year, being too cold in winter and with oven like conditions in summer. Access into the garden is through a utility room and the conservatory. The client’s brief was to design a high quality garden room that will link the cottage with the garden, improving access and for it to be a contemporary design yet sensitive to the character of the listed building.

The proposed design is inserted behind a stepped and sloping stone garden wall, in black timber cladding. The simple dark form of the extension will read as a negative against the positive form of the original cottage. The stages of it’s development can be clearly seen in the different coloration lines on the stonework on the side street elevation. The proposed extension is the next stage of its story.

A naturally weathered timber brise soleil and moveable stackable sunscreen provides relieve from the sun and softens the impact of the dark cladding whilst always maintaining a visual and physical link into the garden, whatever the weather. Read more about the sun shading strategy here.