A project by SJW Architects to extend a farmhouse in the hamlet of Thornhill in the foothills of Wyn Hill in the Peak District National Park – a mountain biker’s paradise – provide more a generous living area and make the most of the spectacular views.
The Clients fell in love with this plot of land - a large and unusually level area, nestled within the stony hamlet Thornhill, in the foothills of Wyn Hill – a dominant feature of the Peak District National Park and a mountain biker’s paradise. The land exists as a small plateau and provides spectacular views across the Hope Valley.
The house that occupied a small corner of the site however was inadequate for a family, in terms of scale and in terms of thermal envelope and general organisation.
The property comprised three components:
• An original 17th Century farmhouse, still attached to its stone barn but long-since portioned-off and occupied as a separate, neighbouring property,
• A single-storey stone lean-to structure at the front of house, facing the road and thus obscuring what would have been the front elevation.
• A double-storey 1960’s extension to the rear, complete with pebble-dash, concrete lintels and cement roof tiles.
The overall composition was disjointed and made worse by the puncturing of what would originally have been a very strong and solid, gable end to the farmhouse, with apertures for rather pedestrian windows.
Brief
The brief was to extend the property to provide more a generous living area.
The architectural challenge was to create yet another piece of fabric that wouldn’t simply add to the disparity of the composition but would rather serve to unify the elements into a coherent residence.
The legal challenge was to persuade the Peak District National Planning Authority to permit a further extension to a property already extended over 100% beyond its original footprint, and where three previously applications had been declined.
Proposal
The proposal was to extend the property in the direction that allowed the interior to gain best advantage of the spectacular views. The expression of the extension was to be in natural gritstone with simple pitched roof, a strong gable end with flush verges; in other words, very much the language of the local vernacular.
SJWA worked very closely with the Peak Park to resolve a scheme that would work.
In order to avoid replicating the same errors of over-domesticating a strong architectural form, the Peak Park decreed that there should be no windows facing the street. As a response, a clerestory window was introduced still allow the north light in to interior and to also provide views out to the stoats and weasels that occupy the brave woodland behind and above, on Wyn Hill above. A full-height glazed slot was introduced between the original farmhouse and the new extension, to provide visual continuity from within the house to the site entrance.
The original house was entirely gutted and new timbers and steelwork inserted before re-lining and finishing. To the delight of the Client, the removal of the 1970’s fireplace revealed a magnificent original stone fire surround and hearth.
The new extension was constructed out of SIPs to ensure the best thermal envelope, a good sustainable method of construction and a quick installation time, to off-set the painstaking process of restoring the original fabric.
The result is a unified composition with the best of both interior worlds – the charm and embracing effect of a period farmhouse, with the open-plan contemporary living that provides warmth and an internal connection to the landscape.