Recently Completed – Westlands farmhouse

This kitchen extension to a Grade II Listed Farmhouse in Wiltshire takes a traditional farmhouse, with thick walls and small openings and transforms the way it can be used, much more in line with modern living expectations.

North Road – Submitted for Planning

We are delighted to have submitted a planning application for a development in North Road, Bath. The development will include three houses, which are designed to have four bedrooms over three floors, including the attic.

Cornbury Mill

Modern refurbishment of historic watermill

Described as “a picture book C18th mill house set in beautiful mature gardens”, the project to refurbish an old watermill near Devizes turned out to be very challenging. Designscape were appointed to convert the mill for use as a calming weekend retreat. The building had previously undergone many changes and was dark and damp, suffering from low ceilings and made up of many small rooms. Surprisingly perhaps it is not listed and the alterations did not require planning permission.

Our approach was to undertake a sympathetic renovation, stripping back recent alterations and opening up the floorplan to let in more daylight. This simple architectural intervention transformed the interior by providing a light and airy open plan living space, aided by the use of light finishes throughout. Major challenges were overcome during construction including a high water table, significant roof structure repairs, and the reconstruction of a substantial masonry chimney breast. These were addressed in a collaborative fashion by the design team and contractor, assisted by the clients’ understanding approach and trust in their professional advisors. The house is transformed on the inside but little altered externally. It remains a gem and as charming as it always was, but now the interiors are clean, warm, light and a joy to be in.

Squash House

Contemporary remodelling of a family home

The existing house was developed within the walls of a former squash club in 2002. This initial conversion failed to make the most of the original building and the client’s brief was to remedy this to provide an environment to suit modern family living. The design inverts the internal accommodation to provide connected living spaces with direct access onto the private external courtyards. New glazed doors slide back into the walls making full-width openings that link the internal and external areas. Bedrooms are relocated to the upper floor behind new clerestory windows with views over Bath. A new open-tread oak staircase connects the three floors and forms the back-bone to the reinvented house.

The existing house was developed within the walls of a former squash club in 2002. This initial conversion failed to make the most of the original building and the client’s brief was to remedy this to provide an environment to suit modern family living. The design inverts the internal accommodation to provide connected living spaces with direct access onto the private external courtyards. New glazed doors slide back into the walls making full-width openings that link the internal and external areas. Bedrooms are relocated to the upper floor behind new clerestory windows with views over Bath. A new open-tread oak staircase connects the three floors and forms the back-bone to the reinvented house.