Project 1 La Houge Cottage

This family house settles into its landscape of meadows and houses. Local building patterns are respected and reinterpreted: principal rooms are oriented to face south, arranged in one room deep wings of rendered masonry walls under steeply pitched slate roofs and massive chimneys. The house presents a modest face to the quiet country lane, but once inside, gradually reveals its generous light filled spaces. Kitchen, living room and pool hall open glazed doors onto a courtyard, a true outdoor room, sheltered enough to eat outside most summer evenings. Light is brought into the house at every opportunity. Rooflights throw a shaft of sunlight into each bedroom casting patterns through the course of the day. Branches almost touch the master bedroom windows, giving an impression of being in a tree house. The project received “Highly Commended” in the Jersey Design Awards of 2002 and was short-listed for the RIBA Town & Country Regional Design Awards 2003.