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Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —

Wildfowl Cottage— Cambridge

Client(s)

Private

Designed to compliment the rescue of a derelict former waterside inn, this extension provides a new room acting as a refuge above the 100-year flood level.

Through an exceptionally long gestation, with prolonged exchange with the planning and conservation authority, a single room has been created which responds carefully to the rich contexts of the listed house and the remarkable surrounding landscape.

The room is thought of as a contemporary interpretation of a vernacular building and demonstrates that careful modern design is appropriate in the context of a listed building. It rejects the notion that conservation work should be bland and bloodless.

View of Wildfowl Cottage across Baits Bite Lock
View of Wildfowl Cottage across Baits Bite Lock

"This small project provides an innovative response to flood risk that establishes a new model for this topical challenge. An extension to the refurbished house radically reinvents the conventional ‘lean-to’ to create a refuge from flooding whilst respecting the original character of the main house. An elevated extension is articulated from the house and provides not only a safe-haven from 100-year floods but a beautiful top-lit room with expansive horizontal views across the landscape. The relationships to landscape and to the adjacent house are reinforced by an adaptable wall, natural light and ventilation, to create wonderful and deceptively rich space. An outstanding project that warrants the RIBA East Small Project Award."

RIBA East Award judge's citation

The new room is raised above the surrounding landscape to protect it from floods
The extension sits between the renovated house and another watercourse
A material language of cedar shingles complements the cottage's clay tiled roofs
The form of the extension reflects the sloped plains of the cottage's roofs
Long section through Baits Bite lock and the site
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The cottage required substantial renovations with new foundations and ground floor slab installed around the historic building fabric
The new room provides a refuge from floods, whilst the space it creates contrasts with the cottage's interiors
Where the existing cottage's spaces are low and dark, the new room is flooded with light

Awards

RIBA Regional Award

RIBA Small Project Award

Press

Wildfowl Cottage — Architects Journal, August 2014

Related

Trinity College — Cambridge

Working across a range of scales, from estate studies, to carefully made contemporary interventions within existing buildings

Victoria Street — Cambridge

Award-winning remaking of a victorian house

Tredegar Square — London

Complete refurbishment of this fine Grade II* listed townhouse alongside contemporary architectural additions

CONTACT

studio@5thstudio.co.uk

We are keen to receive CVs and short portfolios from Part 1 and Part 2 designers. Please contact us via recruitment@5thstudio.co.uk

We actively encourage qualified applicants from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

LONDON Unit 14 21 Wren Street London WC1X 0HF t +44 (0)20 7837 7221 View on Google Maps

CAMBRIDGE Darkroom Gwydir Street Cambridge CB1 2LJ t +44 (0)1223 516009 View on Google Maps