A quiet cathedral of brick, light and water – an escape from the elements in rural Warwickshire perched on top of a hill with views over orchard fields, farmland and the Malvern Hills. This is a building that invites you to relax and rejuvenate, taking in the delights of the surrounding countryside where deer, geese and hares inhabit the fields spreading out before you. 

Two brick volumes have been added to an existing rural home inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. The first strengthens and shelters the rectilinear courtyard to the north – it is a simple mono pitch volume containing secondary functions such as showers and changing rooms. The second, oblong shaped and angled towards the views, is simply water, brick, timber and sky. It is monastic and monolithic, a world shaped in clay bricks from the clay ground that defines this part of Warwickshire, each piece handmade to create irregular textures and depth to the elevation. An exquisite white washed diagrid timber roof floats above, capped with a nine metre long skylight – backstroke only here as you stargaze into the cosmos.