The Sawmill House is an exciting proposed new-build house in the countryside. The proposed 3 bedroom house is for a family who manage an estate and yurt business in the South Downs National Park. The design is based on the two forms of the existing disused sawmill and intersects them to create a dynamic form with sloping roofs covered in wildflowers and solar panels. The first floor is to be vertically clad in natural timber sourced from the estate to reflect the surrounding woodland, and ‘floats’ on a light ground floor of white lime rendered straw panel walls and glass doors that open up to allow the internal spaces to flow outside. Two local-stone clad walls extend out further connecting the house to the garden, forming the kitchen garden wall.

 

A central internal rammed chalk wall features in a double-height space in the heart of the house, linking the two ‘wings’ together and providing a natural thermal store. The overhang of the first floor provides solar shading in summer to the glazed rooms below, and shutters are integrated all round to ensure minimal light pollution at night. The old Victorian coldframes are restored to include a greenhouse and the old boiler house restored as a potting shed. The property will be heated from a biomass boiler using timber from the estate, and solar thermal panels for hot water.