The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects

The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, GardenThe Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Interior Photography, Dining room, Table, ChairThe Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, Facade, DoorThe Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, ConcreteThe Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - More Images+ 11

The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, Garden
© Johan Dehlin

Text description provided by the architects. The existing property consisted of a Grade 2 listed double fronted Victorian house.  Connected to the house was a disused cattle shed and beyond that a ruin, which was a former parchment factory and a scheduled monument.  The client’s initial brief was to convert the cattle shed and demolish the ruin to make way for a new extension. From the beginning of the design process, it was clear that the client viewed the ruin as a constraint as opposed to a positive asset that could in fact be celebrated through a sensitive but well-conceived intervention. 

The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, Concrete
© Johan Dehlin
The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, Facade, Door
© Johan Dehlin

Instead of demolishing the ruin, Will Gamble Architects proposed “a building within a building” - where two lightweight volumes could be delicately inserted within the masonry walls in order to preserve and celebrate it. A palette of honest materials was chosen both internally and externally which references the site’s history and the surrounding rural context. 

The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Interior Photography, Windows, Beam
© Johan Dehlin
The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Image 15 of 16
Ground floor plan
The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Interior Photography, Dining room, Table, Chair
© Johan Dehlin

Externally, corten steel, oak, and reclaimed brick have been used. The extension was built out of up-cycled materials predominantly found on site which was both cost-effective and sustainable, whilst allowing the proposal to sensitively blend into its surroundings. 

The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Interior Photography
© Johan Dehlin

Internally the structural beams of the existing cattle shed were exposed as well as the steelwork to the new parts - the stone walls were re-pointed and washed in lime to create a mottled effect and a concrete plinth was cast along the base to create a monolithic “skirting”.  A contemporary kitchen (also designed by the practice) juxtaposes the uneven and disordered nature of the ruin and continues the theme of a modern intervention set within a historic context.

The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects - Exterior Photography, Brick, Arch
© Johan Dehlin

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Cite: "The Parchment Works House / Will Gamble Architects" 06 Apr 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/936947/the-parchment-works-house-will-gamble-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

© Johan Dehlin

嵌入遗迹中的现代住宅 / Will Gamble Architects

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