Owing to recent success in the RIBA National Country House Competition, The Humane Architecture Workshop was invited to participate in a limited competition to design a scheme for Grafton New Hall. The scheme made it to the final round of the selection process and, as pointed out by the RIBA assessors report, 'although this entry did not win it delighted the assessors at many levels and ran the eventual winner to a close call.' The full RIBA Assessor's report can be seen here.

The estate comprised of approximately 60 acres of land, most of it protected for archeological reasons with the exception of the 'Grafton Covert'. This is a pasture surrounded by poplar plantation and medieval woodland, the only enclosure within an otherwise open landscape. The geological composition gives character to this otherwise flat site. The thick clay topsoil with underlying red sandstone quickly becomes waterlogged in heavy rain and ponding frequently occurs. Ancient marl pits dot the landscape and provide permanent pools for fish and amphibians.

The house is essentially two wings joined together around an entrance courtyard. The southern and largest section of the house is for living and entertaining whereas the northern section is for the staff, utilities and office. The house is flanked by two water channels that drain the bank on which the house sits and protectit from flooding. The channels empty into a second external swimming pool, which is filtered naturally by carefully selected plants.

The section enables sunlight to penetrate into all parts of the house in a controlled fashion using the sun's energy to provide the majority of the house's lighting and heating thus reducing energy bills. Rain water is collected off the roofs in channels on copper clad light shelves. These water filled channels reflect shimmering patterns of light onto the ceilings of the adjacent rooms. The rain water collected is used to flush WCs and to keep the natural swimming pool topped up.

Site Plan
Click the image to enlarge

Project team

Frank Lyons
Laurence Rumble
Matthew Lowther
Nigel Craddock
Toby Peters

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