Built on the flint-rich fields of the countryside Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, the Flint House was recently announced as the winner of RIBA's coveted House of the Year award during a TV broadcast on Britain's Channel 4. Formerly called the Manser Medal, House of the Year still holds the same purpose of distinguishing the year's most innovative house designed by a UK-based architect. RIBA and Channel 4 featured the shortlisted homes in a weekly TV series called "Grand Designs: RIBA House of the Year" throughout this past month.

The Flint House lives up to its name, designed as if the surrounding flint-surfaced landscape was emerging. Designed by Skene Catling De La Peña to accommodate visiting relatives as well as artists, the most distinctive element of the house on first glance is the textured flint cladding and its dark-to-chalk-white gradient. When the competition jury visited the site, they considered the Flint House as having 'the strongest [and most poetic] narrative, passionately explained by the architect, and evident in the end result.'

The interior space of the house and its annex incorporate what is described as an intelligent mixed application of rooftops, terraces, and recesses, as well as a small stream of water that meanders underneath the structure. The Flint House development is part of a larger project that includes engagement with artists, photographers, and musicians.

More project images in the gallery below.

Check out previous winning houses on Archinect here.