Aeron Parc

A district heating system to serve two properties.

This small project is the development of a rural smallholding in mid Wales comprising the reorganisation and extension to two existing dwellings on the same land. A set of simple interventions provides various elements of domestic and agricultural accommodation to support a family of vegetable growers.

Drawing on the tones and character of the surrounding settlements one russet colour is applied to every addition. These interventions help to reorganise the hierarchy and circulation of the site, create a point of arrival and orientation, and provide amenity space that benefits from sunlight but offers shelter from the wind.

A new biomass plant room provides heating to both dwellings from a centralised location, with an adjoining covered space provided for log chopping and packaging of produce from the surrounding fields.

A simple palette of corrugated metal and vertical timber cladding is applied to a whitewashed brick plinth, which acts to mediate between the changing levels of the site. Simple honest details are used to create a structure that is familiar in this rural landscape, with materials selected for their availability and economy.