Moonshine
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Peter Cook (website) Download Original
Addition to a 1786 castellated stone building that was completed within six months despite there being no road access within 400 yards
The addition was designed with a flexible skin, which is achieved through the use of screens that can be slid back and adjusted depending on sun and wind directions, or usage.
The building is made legible through the separation of, and the revealing of, the structure, sinews and skin, with the frame expressed continuously in the envelope, floors and ceilings.
There are no finishes and each material is left to read as itself. Ply is used for the walls, which also serve to brace the frame. The frame is local green oak, which was the only material available in the section sized required, with stainless steel bolt connections that are expressed externally as a single pin at each structural bay.
The outside of the building is clad in dark grey corrugated sheet – an acknowledgment to the local black and grey corrugated Dutch barns in the same valley.
The extension touches the ground lightly – using small pad footings in only eight positions – allowing the water table to remain unaffected, and minimizing the use of concrete.
Data
- Completed: Oct 2008
- Sector: House
- Total cost: £140,000
- Address: Moonshine, The Rocks, Near Bath, United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: Mitchell Taylor Workshop
- Project architects: Mitchell Taylor, Piers Taylor
- Client: Private