Thomas Greatorex & Sons

An expanding funeral directors business needed a hearse garage, workshop space and more offices. The site overlooks a brook and has views to the nearby church. The new building replaces a decrepit shack, and occupies the same footprint.

The design is conceived as a boat-house and expresses workshop below and offices above. Hence stone is used below, with larch cladding above. It acts as a ‘bookend’ to the funeral directors premises, and as a transition between the long metal garage and the adjacent two-storey row of cottages. The building’s use is deliberately ambiguous and discreet – most people think it is a house.

Windows and doors have been carefully positioned to respond to views and light, and to compliment the ‘ad hoc’ character of the Conservation Area. This small new addition to a historic locality makes a positive contemporary contribution and further enhances a charming mixed-use environment.