A “classical” two-storey colonnade characterises this family home in the South Downs National Park, completed by London studio Sandy Rendel Architects.
Named Bury Gate Farm, the five-bedroom house replaces a 1950s bungalow on a sloped site on the outskirts of Pulborough, which overlooks fields and woodland.
According to Sandy Rendel Architects, it is designed as a modern interpretation of a “parkland villa”, intended to complement both the rural site and local vernacular.
This led to its colonnaded southern elevation, which draws on classical architecture but is crafted from concrete and brick, offering a more contemporary look.
“The South Downs National Park requires a landscape-led approach that respects local character,” Sandy Rendel Architects founder Sandy Rendel told Dezeen.
“The challenge was how to craft sensitive contemporary design that responds to and enhances this protected landscape without resorting to historic mimicry,” he continued.
Bury Gate Farm has a stepped plan, with living spaces positioned to the south and organised linearly along the colonnade.
“The colonnade offers the building presence and scale in the wider landscape and a classical order that is reminiscent of a parkland villa,” said Rendel.
Sandy Rendel Architects converts barrel-vaulted barn into home in the South Downs
“On a more pragmatic level, it also provides passive solar shading to the large areas of glazing on the south facade and sheltered external pockets from which to enjoy the landscape,” he added.
Externally, the home is defined by a palette of brick and rammed and precast concrete. Their muted tones were selected to complement the oak trees in the woodland to the north, as well as stone architecture in the area.
“The predominant historic local sandstone and ironstone are a key feature of the local built environment but unfortunately are no longer quarried in a quality suitable for building stone,” Rendel explained.
“Instead their tones and textures were reflected in the new house with a simple palette of materials consisting of waterstruck brickwork combined with rammed and precast concrete,” he continued.
Inside Bury Gate Farm, the walls are finished in clay plaster and the floors with timber, providing a warm and natural look to all spaces.
The home is complete with a large rooftop array of solar panels, an air source heat pump and an MVHR system to enhance its energy performance.
Sandy Rendel Architects is a London studio founded by Rendel in 2010. Previous projects by the studio include a barrel-vaulted barn conversion in West Sussex and a narrow house slotted into a disused alley in Peckham.
The photography is by Ståle Eriksen.
Project credits:
Architect: Sandy Rendel Architects
Project architect: Sophie Roycroft
Structural engineer: Structure Workshop
M&E consultant: Invicta Clean Energy (ASHP and PV Design)/Built Environment Technology (MVHR)
Approved building inspector: MC Plan and Site Services
