Cliff House

A rural home designed to house three generations under one roof.

Cliff Farm is a Paragraph 79 home designed to house three generations of the client’s family under one sloped roof. The main two storey part houses the client and their children, and the single level wing is designed for their parents. The two wings are connected by a communal living and guest bedroom. The proposal has several possible arrangements, allowing for both communal living and privacy for the two families.

Influenced by the surrounding rural built typologies, the concept has been developed to meet both the requirements of the family whilst also creating a re-imagined and unique form. Combined also with locally sourced materials representative of the area, the proposal will bed itself into the surroundings. This local sourcing approach also minimises the overall embodied energy. The multi-disciplinary team of environmental experts have worked collaboratively to ensure the proposed design responds sensitively to the rural context. This approach aims to produce a home that is architecturally significant, providing an example of how contemporary, sustainable architecture can enhance its landscape.

This proposal aims to create a beautiful home using the resources that surround it. Understanding the local architectural language has allowed us to propose a credible reinterpretation that reflects the highest quality of design. This approach combined with sensitivity to the immediate setting will help raise the standard of design in rural areas and become a positive example of how to build a low embodied energy, low impact home on an isolated site of this nature.