Our approach

 Designing a new home within the greenbelt presents a unique set of challenges, requiring a sensitive response to planning policy, landscape character, and local context. Our approach began with a thorough assessment of the site’s constraints and opportunities, followed by close collaboration with the local planning authority. Through this dialogue, we secured approval to replace the existing built volume with a new dwelling of equivalent massing, carefully positioned and scaled to preserve the openness of the greenbelt.

The resulting design is a contemporary, low-profile home that sits quietly within its semi-rural setting. The ground floor accommodates four bedrooms and a generous family room, while the living spaces extend into a basement level that houses a leisure suite, swimming pool, and games room. A sunken courtyard reconnects the lower level to the garden, and strategically placed light wells draw natural light into the pool hall, creating dramatic visual moments throughout the day.

Externally, the house is defined by a restrained material palette. Vertical timber cladding is framed between two horizontal planes, anchoring the building to the landscape. A stone colonnade marks the entrance sequence, leading to a large metal door that signals arrival. Floor-to-ceiling glazing punctuates the façade, offering expansive views across open fields and maximising daylight throughout the interior. To the south, a deep veranda provides shaded outdoor seating and helps regulate solar gain.

The architectural language is deliberately quiet, allowing the building to recede into its surroundings. A green roof and the use of natural timber further embed the home into the landscape. Existing mature planting has been preserved and enhanced through an organic landscaping strategy designed to support biodiversity and encourage native wildlife.