Donner Ridge

A state of the art luxury holiday home located in Rock, Cornwall with secluded views of the estuary and the landscape beyond.

Harmoniously combining romantic beach shack qualities with refined craftsmanship and bespoke detailing, this distinctive contemporary home is tucked away on a quiet cul-de-sac. Beyond the entrance gates the main house and beach house, juxtaposed with an almost playful language, frame captivating views out into the River Camel Estuary and countryside beyond.

The client was keen to create an understated yet luxury holiday home with an emphasis on quality, materiality and warmth. Challenging site constraints, including a covenant restricting building height, meant that a carefully considered design response to levels and landscaping was needed. A three-storey building was achieved through lowering the building levels and carefully configuring the layout. On entry, a delicate timber clad form characterises the house, the seaward elevations then open up into refined lightweight facade of glass and anodised aluminium.

The lower-ground floor habitable spaces are positioned along the south elevation benefiting from direct access onto a formal sunken garden. An open ground floor plan offers maximum flexibility to the main living spaces by use of a fully integrated electric curtain system, offering, when required, privacy and warmth in each space.

The first floor is characterised by a cantilevered glass terrace that warps around the west and south elevation. Effortlessly floating above the landscaped gardens and estuary beyond. The fully clear glass terrace serves a dual purpose functioning as both first floor balcony and ensuring unobstructed light to the brise soleil shading canopy below.

A complementary use of high-grade building materials, encompassing natural anodised aluminium, Iroko timber and silver grey granite, will enable the building to weather gracefully over time.

Passive heating and cooling principles are employed at the core of the design. An open floor plan from front to back combined with full height opening windows ensures control of natural ventilation during summer months. The southern elevations accommodate larger expanses of glazing, maximising solar gain during the cooler months. A combination of brise soleil canopies and sliding shutters ensure prevention of overheating all year round.

A ground source heat pump provides a renewable energy source to the main house while an air source heat pump supplies the beach house. Both buildings are equipped with an MVHR system, reducing the overall energy load and contributing to the reduction of the buildings carbon footprint.