The site is located on the outskirts of a picturesque coastal village in Somerset on a steep slope running from the exposed moorlands of Exmoor National Park into the Bristol Channel with the coastline of Wales visible in the far distance.

Leading away from the dense settlement pattern of the village, a long single track road follows the contours of the landscape past wider dispersed garden plots to the entrance at the lower end of the site.

The length of the arrival to the elevated position creates a secluded environment for the plot, despite its close proximity to the village.

Dense vegetation and well established trees along all boundaries shelter the lower third of the site from overlooking views and further emphasise its private nature.

A three bedroom dwelling and detached studio replace an existing house and garage in the same position, where the contours of the plot have been previously levelled in order to make the lower end fit for development.

The single storey dwelling consists of three equally sized volumes, two of which are closed framing the centrally positioned void and rendering the building a garden pavilion.

The master bedroom with en-suite is positioned at one end of the building and two further guest bedrooms with bathrooms at the other. The open plan middle volume houses the main kitchen, dining and living areas with the front and back fully openable into the gardens via large sliding doors and all services positioned at either side. 

Two covered external terraces are subtracted from the closed volumes. A curved path leading from the site entrance with parking provisions moves past the studio to the front terrace providing a sheltered entrance situation and allowing the pivoted entrance door to be positioned on a side elevation. This arrangement is mirrored at the back of building where an identical door opens out onto the second terrace and rear patio with water feature. The lengthy arrival to the plot continues as a journey through the building to the rear sun trap and towards the elevated back of the plot with views over the water. Deep storage areas are hidden behind movable walls at the back of each terrace in order to conceal the equipment for maintaining the garden, fire logs and outdoor furniture. Here the rain water goods are fully accessible whilst remaining out of view.

 Both inside and outside of the building are finished in white. This contrast between artificial and natural gets further emphasised as the vegetation reclaims the site.

The absence of materials provides a blank canvas on the interior, giving dominance to natural light as it is projected across all walls and mirrored from the white concrete floor. 

On the exterior this theme is reversed as shadows imprint the surrounding vegetation on the white brick walls which act as canvases for displaying the nature of the plot throughout the course of the day. 

The terraces being inlays are finished in black and contrast with the rectangular frame of the building. The sliding doors wrap around the corner and into the terraces negating the end of the interior space.

The specific micro-climate of the site in combination with the flexibility of all openings ensures that the internal environment of the building can be manually controlled by the users and comfortably adjusted throughout the seasons. With the building being in use for over a year, overheating is successfully avoided through a three way cross ventilation strategy during the summer months and the cooling out of the building reduced through passive solar gain during the winter months when an additional underfloor heating system connected to an air source heat pump runs at the lowest setting.

A garden pavilion eliminates the thresholds of a dwelling and places the ever changing seasons  at centre stage of the building. 

The contract was administered through Scenic Lets and Daniel Bär was appointed by the client directly at tender stage.