Casswell Bank Architects

A beach house with a relaxed character and strong sense of place

This two-storey brick cottage abuts a broad shingle beach on the Suffolk coast. It had changed very little since the 1950s when it was built by the Ministry of Defence. The house was modernised, reconfigured and enlarged to better relate to its remarkable surroundings.

A new expression for the building was developed with the shacks and huts of this coastline in mind. It is clad in a range of expedient materials that relate to the spirit of traditional Suffolk construction – ‘practical and inexpensive yet decorative and effective’ (Suffolk Houses: A Study of Domestic Architecture, Eric Sandon, 1977). Bitumen shingles evoke black tarred structures. Weatherboarding is reimagined as a fabric-like timber façade using weathered planks repurposed from the old garden fence made out of driftwood from the shore. Flush silver-anodised aluminium frame windows and rendered external insulation applied to the existing building reduces energy consumption. The natural tones and colours of the materials harmonise with the coastal environment.                                                               

The rooms and loft upstairs were cleared away, the staircase relocated, and existing windows enlarged to create a dramatic living space at first floor level with sea views. A new roof terrace and external staircase connect this room directly to the beach. The kitchen was positioned at the heart of the house and connects to exterior terraces in the back yard and beach garden, with sleeping, washing and utility spaces organised in separate single storey extensions.

Internal materials are robust, visually engaging and good value with some, such as painted screed and raw concrete block, specified to withstand flooding. Combining new fair face materials with existing found ones such as exposed fletton brickwork and concrete slab soffits, give the interior an enjoyable, relaxed character appropriate for a beach house. Click on the link below to read Rowan Moore’s review in The Observer.                           

RONINA, SHINGLE STREET REVIEW, THE OBSERVER 2018

SPECIFICATIONS

• Client: Private
• Date: 2016 — 2018
• Location: Shingle Street, Suffolk
• Local Authority: Suffolk Coastal District Council, Suffolk Coast and
  Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty + SSSI
• Gross Floor Area: 138 sq.m
• Photography: David Grandorge
• Published: The Observer, 2018