Quarry Wood
Extension to modernist house
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Quarry wood is a rare example of a “modernist” 1960s house on the edge of Bath. In fact, the house conceals an older wartime structure – originally built as an RAF lookout / communications station – and the existing house was constructed around this structure in the 1960s.
Its former RAF use is explained by the house’s setting – dug into an old quarry right on the very western edge of the Cotswold escarpment with far reaching views out over Bristol and the River Severn. However, it’s far-reaching views come at the cost of a high degree of exposure to the prevailing weather.
As the house is entered at first floor level, all the living spaces are a storey above the ground, so our client’s brief was to infill part of the old quarry with a new structure which could provide a gym and laundry spaces beneath and a useable south facing private terrace above, closely connected with the main living spaces.
The design of the extension responds to the strong geometry 1960s house. The choice of an external finish of board marked concrete came from a desire to construct a waterproof retaining wall without having to dig out a safe working space (out of rock) behind the retaining wall. The resulting structure is made from waterproof concrete, including a waterproof concrete roof deck, with a polished top surface. All the concrete was specified with 50% cement replacement to minimise the embodied carbon. There is no roof membrane and the whole structure is internally lined and insulated.
Status – complete
Contract value – confidential
Design Team – Format Engineers
Main Contractor. Client . Specialist concrete contractor – HDG Construction
Its former RAF use is explained by the house’s setting – dug into an old quarry right on the very western edge of the Cotswold escarpment with far reaching views out over Bristol and the River Severn. However, it’s far-reaching views come at the cost of a high degree of exposure to the prevailing weather.
As the house is entered at first floor level, all the living spaces are a storey above the ground, so our client’s brief was to infill part of the old quarry with a new structure which could provide a gym and laundry spaces beneath and a useable south facing private terrace above, closely connected with the main living spaces.
The design of the extension responds to the strong geometry 1960s house. The choice of an external finish of board marked concrete came from a desire to construct a waterproof retaining wall without having to dig out a safe working space (out of rock) behind the retaining wall. The resulting structure is made from waterproof concrete, including a waterproof concrete roof deck, with a polished top surface. All the concrete was specified with 50% cement replacement to minimise the embodied carbon. There is no roof membrane and the whole structure is internally lined and insulated.
Status – complete
Contract value – confidential
Design Team – Format Engineers
Main Contractor. Client . Specialist concrete contractor – HDG Construction
