A Family’s Retreat Is a Natural Fit in England’s New Forest National Park

PAD Studio replaced a rundown cottage with a new gable-roofed timber design that looks as if it’d been there all along.

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Project Details:

Location: Hampshire, United Kingdom

Architect: PAD Studio / @pad_studiouk

Builder: Belmore Building

Structural Engineer: MBC Timber Frame

Landscape Designer: PAD Studio / @pad_studiouk

Cabinetry: R Hemsworth & Son

Ecology Consultant: Eco Support

Environmental Consultants: Enhabit

Photographer: Jim Stephenson / @clickclickjim

From the Architect: "PAD studio has completed a serene three-bedroom home for a London-based family in the New Forest National Park, United Kingdom. PAD studio was commissioned to reorganize an existing ramshackle cottage on the site. The local planning authority recommended the firm design a new, sustainable home rather than revive the disjointed cottage, on the condition the new home matched the footprint of the old.

"The L-shaped plan comprises two pitched-roof volumes clad in timber battens and white render in reference to neighboring A-frame chalets. A long glazed hallway and open walkway line the internal boundary of the home, offering visual connection to the main living/dining area and tranquil garden of ponds and timber decking. Two bedrooms, a family bathroom, and main bedroom occupy one wing, while an open-plan living, dining, kitchen and utility space occupy the other.

"The interior palette of natural materials was chosen to bounce light throughout the home. A custom concrete hearth lines the living space; a bespoke stair rail is wrapped in almost half a kilometer (453m) of sisal rope; walls and ceilings are hand-washed in clayworks plaster; and bespoke oak wardrobes offer storage.

"The retreat also embodies PAD studio’s commitment to environmentally-focused architecture, with triple-glazed windows, abundant insulation, natural ventilation, an air source heat pump for off-grid heating, photovoltaic panels, and a timber-frame structure with blown paper insulation in the roof."