#RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
Monolithic flint house by skene catling de la peña responds to its rural setting
In the grounds of waddesdon manor, a large estate owned by the rothschilds (europe’s richest banking family), architects skene catling de la peña were commissioned to build a structure intended for the curator of a new archive building.
Responding to site and its natural geology, the design team devised two wedge-shaped structures – the ‘flint house’ consisting of three bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, library and study, and a more intimately proportioned self-contained annex studio.
The two buildings emerge from the landscape as geological extrusions, connected not only by their mirrored form, but also somewhat paradoxically by the void that divides them. as the name suggests, the dwelling is clad with flint, an ancient material found in abundance on the surface of the plowed fields surrounding the site.
Graduating in color from ground to sky, the lowest courses of flint are blackest and rough hewn with large gallets in black mortar joints. as the material progresses upwards, various tones of gray blend into courses of long, narrow blocks of white chalk allowing the building to disappear into the skies above. conceived as both viewing platforms and condensing lenses for the surrounding panorama, stepped terrazzo roofs provide sweeping views of the estate.
Internally, the layout moves from open shared spaces at the center of the plan to more contemplative, private rooms hidden within the trees at the far ends of each building. delineating the program, a river uses raw nodules of flint to carve a winding path through the home. black glass ceilings are used to draw the external landscape deep inside the building, reflecting the water below.
