Two Pavilions
Architects
Carmody Groarke
Year
2016/17
Build cost
£975K
Location
Old Bearhurst, Ticehurst
Awards
RIBA South East Award 2018
This project involved the construction of two pavilions encompassing a one of a kind, self-contained hermitage guest suite & the renovation of a dilapidated eighteenth century single storey farm building into an Artist’s Studio for sculpting.
The guest suite contains a bedroom, bathroom, and a small kitchen. It is conceived as a singular, square, oak-lined room given orientation by a single large window overlooking a beautiful man-made lake and small island.
An oak jetty is suspended over the secluded lake for a tranquil, restful retreat.
The journey from the existing house to the hermitage is like something from a spy movie, & only accessible via an impressive 3m diameter, 40m long, galvanised-steel under floor lit, underground tunnel.
There wasn’t much of the original farm building left, however, the remaining brickwork of the proposed Artist’s Studio was retained for its handmade quality & character, and the figure of the original walls was completed inside and out in polished in situ concrete.
A new steel plate roof overhangs the existing footprint to create covered outside spaces to work.
The four large windows are positioned to provide specific views and topographical levels of the surrounding farmland.
The long marshland grasses will eventually encompass the building only leaving the steel roof visible.
Polished concrete was used to create work surfaces & a sink area to complement the look of the studio.
Featured in
Building Design Online -
https://www.bdonline.co.uk/buildings/building-study-old-bearhurst-east-sussex-by-carmody-groarke/5093253.articleThe front page of the Carmody Groarke EL croquis Edition 195, & on pages 130 - 151.
Awards
This prestigious project won the RIBA Regional Award, 2018.
AYA (Architect of the Year) Gold Award.
Shortlisted for the Manser Medal