The development of a two-bedroom guesthouse on the site of an existing derelict farmhouse near the Stour Estuary in Essex.
The house has been designed in a highly expressive manner and incorporates a number of Grayson Perry ceramics that are both decorative and functional (where they form part of the cladding of the building). Alongside bedrooms, the building incorporates a gallery and formal reception area. The client is Living Architecture, Alain de Botton’s social enterprise, that make affordable holiday rental houses that provide an exceptional architectural experience. In order to ensure the aesthetics of the building could be delivered, Atelier Ten worked closely with the design team. As the guesthouse will have many visitors, the services design has been developed to be robust and durable, while at the same time blending into the overall vision for the building. Key energy saving initiatives include heat recovery ventilation and ground source heat pumps.
