A former parchment factory in Northamptonshire in the UK has been transformed by
Will Gamble Architects into an exquisite home that cleverly knits together a modern intervention with a distinctive ruinous structure. The existing property is a Grade II heritage-listed Victorian house which has been renovated and extended to combine a cattle shed and the remains of the parchment factory.
According to the architects,
“the client’s initial brief was to convert the cattle shed and demolish the ruin to make way for a new extension. From the beginning of the design process, it was clear that the client viewed the ruin as a constraint as opposed to a positive asset that could, in fact, be celebrated through a sensitive but well-conceived intervention.”
Thankfully, Will Gamble Architects saved the ruins from demolition and turned them into a feature that contributes to the innate character of the home. They proposed
“a building within a building – where two lightweight volumes could be delicately inserted within the masonry walls in order to preserve and celebrate it,” they explain. One half of the ruin accommodates the kitchen, living and dining areas while the other half encloses part of the tiered courtyard.
