Ferrum House

Title: Ferrum House

Location: Bruton, Somerset, UK

Client: Andrew Pennock & Dana Anderson

Date: 2013

Winner of the  Somerset Building Presentation Trust 2014

Ferrum House utilizes flexible modular systems, making it suitable for irregular infill sites.

Built on the footprint of a former garage that provided petrol and repair services to Bruton, beside an old bacon factory, now converted into flats.

This  220 sq meter low-energy, highly insulated house is designed to sit comfortably among while contrasting  the surrounding buildings. It is set back from the street line and road, presenting block forms between the adjoining buildings and echoing the wall of the old bacon factory next door. The combination of Corten steel and timber finishes provides a varied, natural colouring. The main fenestration is at the rear of the property, ensuring privacy while offering large, light-giving windows that overlook the garden and balcony towards the church.

The design features SIPs construction with timber cladding on the ground floor and Corten steel cladding on the first and second floors. The house presents as a steel cube encasing the upper two floors, set back from the road. It rests on a charred timber-clad ground floor, extending across the site from west to east. This design gives the impression of the cube being perched on the timber base, enhanced by the projection of the northern end over the entrance.

Citation from Somerset Building preservation award:

‘It is a convincingly modern house that offers no traditional details or signals to declare itself in the context of old Bruton, but sits happily between a series of beautiful old buildings and more recent structures by virtue of its form and scale. As such it has managed to add to the quality and interest of the town. The quality of design achieves a well-restored interior with consistent and thorough detailing to all elements, making a great house to live in, exploiting the best of the views and sunshine. It also represents a low energy, highly insulated project.’

Photographs Louis Porter