Peter Zumthor completes his first permanent building in the UK: the brutalist Secular Retreat

2018-10-29T15:38:00-04:00

The Swiss architect Peter Zumthor has built ‘a gliding swan’ of a house in Devon that strikes a perfect balance between inside and out, whichever way you look

Peter Zumthor recently completed a meticulously crafted concrete house in the gently sloping English countryside of Devon—the Swiss architect's first permanent building in the UK after designing the Serpentine Gallery's 2011 summer pavilion in London.

Photo: Jack Hobhouse/Living Architecture

Titled Secular Retreat, the five-bedroom brutalist abode is part of the growing Living Architecture vacation home portfolio which also includes MVRDV's Balancing Barn and Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects's Dune House (both in collaboration with Mole Architects) as well as a quirky cottage in Essex by FAT Architecture and Grayson Perry.

Photo: Jack Hobhouse/Living Architecture

"Simply a miraculous piece of architecture" is The Observer critic Rowan Moore's impression after visiting the building for his latest review. "The sublimity of the architecture comes by way of a certain roughness," Moore writes. "Its character is set by pillars and walls of thick concrete mixed from local materials, shovelled and...

Damien Hirst cancels his Ilfracombe eco-town plans

2017-01-06T13:44:00-05:00

Isn’t Ilfracombe already a town? Yes, but Hirst was deeply involved in the application process for an eco-friendly, 750-home development known as the Southern Extension. That’s a terrible name for a town. Which is probably why the scheme was known as Hirst-on-Sea until recently. Until recently? Hirst, who lives nearby, has now withdrawn from the project. His company, Resign, says it could not find a developer to build houses “in keeping with our vision”.

Looks like Damien Hirst's plan to build 750 eco-friendly homes in the English seaside town of Ilfracombe isn't going to happen after all.

When we first reported about the artist's town-development ambitions back in 2012, the announcement was greeted with skepticism from Archinect readers. Two years later, everything still seemed jolly fine with the North Devon Council approving the plans.

The endeavor even inspired the studio project "Visionary Cities Project" at the University of Illinois at Chicago with students applying urbanist archetypes to Ilfracombe's blank development site.

The Guardian reader Patrick Ryan praises Hirst as a sensible businessman in the comment section and blames "Brexit dark clouds" over the UK's property market as a legitimate reason to pull the plug.

What's your take? Chime in below.

Archinect - News

Peter Zumthor completes his first permanent building in the UK: the brutalist Secular Retreat

Damien Hirst cancels his Ilfracombe eco-town plans