Chelsea Barracks

The redevelopment of the Chelsea Barracks site is one of the most prominent projects in the capital in the last quarter century. Bringing back a dense, mixed-use, traditionally planned quarter to the heart of Chelsea, the site has been masterplanned by Squire & Partners and Dixon Jones.  In 2014 we were invited to join a limited competition to design a key landmark building at the centre of the site, immediately opposite the Garrison Chapel, now a listed building.

We developed a design for a simple, arcaded brick building which won the competition, and we worked through the slow and complex process of planning, meeting with local groups and neighbours, designing alongside the other architects in the Phase I collaboration, and then detailing the building for construction.  Built with load-bearing, traditionally detailed brickwork of significant complexity, the building has gone on to win an number of awards and has become a much-loved and commented building at the heart of the project.  The restaurant complex opens in 2023.

We worked alongside our good friend William Smalley who also designed the mews house next door.

The Pig Hotel

We have worked on two buildings for the renowned Pig Hotels (who also own Limewood, the well-known five star hotel which we designed here).

The Pig in the Forest is a restrained Regency country house in the New Forest. Ben Pentreath designed new wings and conservatory for the main house and worked on proposals for the conversion and restoration of a number smaller outbuildings to form additional accommodation.

The Pig on the Beach, at Studland (named the Hotel of the Year 2015 by Mr & Mrs Smith) is a major project to restore and extend an eccentric seaside Summer lodge house formerly owned by the Bankes Family of Kingston Lacy, in Dorset. Now owned by the National Trust, the building had been operating as a poor quality hotel for many years and was in a dilapidated condition when taken on by Robin Hutson and the Pig Hotels group.

Working with the renowned landscape architect Kim Wilkie, we steered through a substantial planning and listed building application for the site to include a substantial new extension to the main building and a beautiful new walled garden designed by Kim. Within this garden are two new thatched ‘pepperpot’ buildings, designed in the Cottage Orne vernacular, which provide additional guest accommodation. On our advice, these and the main house were limewashed in a rich yellow ochre colour that beautifully complements the Purbeck slate roofs and stone details.

Knockroon

Knockroon is the development being constructed on the edge of the historic Dumfries House Estate in South-East Ayrshire.

When Dumfries House was rescued for the nation by a consortium of Charities led by the former Prince of Wales, the bid included enabling development in the form of an extension to the local town, Cumnock. The Prince wanted the new housing to be a demonstration of the best of his design and sustainability principles, and we were selected to design the first phase of Knockroon, which had been planned by The Prince’s Foundation.

The houses and apartments draw inspiration from the simple vernacular of local towns, which we studied extensively on a series of workshops with the Foundation.

The first phase of mixed-use development has now been completed to widespread local and national acclaim, and already the buildings are proving highly influential as a model for new developments to other landowners in Scotland. The restoration of Dumfries House and the estate is ongoing, and the flowering of this remarkable project within a deeply deprived community is a sign of great hope.