One of my favourite projects was this truly unique country kitchen – an extension to a period house nestled on the hillside of the valley of Wraxall, Bristol.
The customer had already been refused three times on the planning application for an extension as, neighbouring the outstanding National Trust Estate at Tyntesfield, this is counted as one of the South West’s areas of outstanding natural beauty and so naturally, there are many restrictions as to what can be done. Together with architects and the National Trust itself, we designed a space in-keeping with the area’s beauty and character and that used age-old building methods.
All the materials were personally sourced and hand picked by myself, with the vision of the project in mind and put together on site; The rare Draycott stone came from a tiny quarry in Draycott, Cheddar, which then had months of cutting and facing using traditional techniques ready for laying;
British Douglas Fir timbers were all cut on site and lifted in by hand; the roof tiles were sourced from a number of different reclamation sites around Somerset, then recut and squared up for a weather-proof fit; The stunning kitchen, with a lovely full stave Oak worktop in the centre, was hand built by a bespoke, local business which I worked with the client to discover; Finally, a Glass tunnel led from the old part of the house to new, which we used as a way of incorporating the two and not interfering with the old-time beauty of the original country home. They compliment each other perfectly.
As a testament to the finish and level of detail in this project, and I believe, to my dedication to working harmoniously with the organisations who outline the guidance for homes in such locations as this one, upon completion, British Heritage requested for photos to be taken for their own portfolio.
