A Powys house has been crowned the best new house in Wales.
Pen y Common near Hay on Wye was awarded the title of the EH Smith Royal Society of Architects in Wales Building of the Year at a ceremony at the 2023 Royal Society of Architects in Wales Awards.
The house is an extension of a traditional 17th-century Welsh longhouse set on a remote hillside and the work by Nidus Architects was lavished with praise by the judges for breathing “new life into the old cottage”
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In their comments explaining why the property had scooped up the top prize, the judges said the extension had an “almost Goldilocks qualities of being neither too big nor too small, neither too formal nor too informal.
“Its arrangement honours the local farmhouse tradition of ad-hoc development in terms of its positioning amongst the setting of adjacent agricultural outbuildings.”
The judges also praised the sourcing of local materials and its lack of waste - “It becomes clear that ‘thinking local’ has driven the project from the outset, especially in terms of material selection.
“The timber-framed extension is clad with untreated larch that was grown, cut, dried, and machined within 10 miles of the site. Stone is sourced from a quarry five miles away, as were landscaping materials and finishes.
"The metal profiled roof was selected over alternatives so that the specific valued skills of a local contractor could be employed.
“This economy of material sourcing continues through to the detailing. For example, the cladding utilises random board widths to reduce unnecessary waste, with any offcuts cleverly repurposed for the front door.
"The structural slab is polished to become the internal floor finish.
"The salvaging of a local school’s chemistry lab furniture fittings for reuse in the bathroom and utility room is another lovely story of material reuse.
“Where higher-quality materials are used, it is in areas that occupants can connect with, such as the use of character-grade oak to line window reveals.
"The larger window seat looking down over Hay-on-Wye is a real treat to retreat into, come rain or shine.”
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