Cottage in the Palms featured in the Architects’ Journal

Blog Article

St Agnes-based practice COAL has completed a 67m² extension to a 19th-century cottage on the north Cornish coast.

The project’s site is on the side of a valley in an acre of gardens densely planted with sub-tropical plants. Dating back to the early 19th century, the existing cottage was most likely built for miners in the local tin and copper mines and has walls constructed of stone and cob. A series of smaller extensions and conservatories had been added at the side and rear.

The brief called for the architect to renovate and reconfigure the cottage and to add a two-storey extension to create a stronger connection between the gardens and the landscape beyond.

COAL restored the cottage by removing layers of render, allowing it to breathe again. An existing conservatory has been modified and thermally upgraded.

The new extension mirrors the massing and orientation of the cottage and was conceived in the form of an agricultural outbuilding to create a level of internal and external detachment from the cottage. It has its own vertical circulation and provides a bedroom and bathroom upstairs with living space and utility room below.

Central to the design was how the building would be viewed from the garden, but also how it would function as a backdrop. Therefore a homogeneous approach to material and colour has been taken to transform its exterior into more of a ‘strange’ object, as the architects describe it.

The gardens were designed and planted by the clients, who also self-built the extension.

Architect’s view

The project was constructed over three years, due to budget constraints and the impact of the pandemic. The cottage was renovated in phase 1 and the groundworks for the extension were also completed. Our clients then turned their attention to creating the garden around the building, and we became increasingly interested in how the extension would form the backdrop for this garden. In a sense, the focus of the brief was slightly inverted as the garden grew and changed the nature of the site.

As a result, the external form was simplified to its basic geometry and the homogeneous approach to material and colour was chosen in an attempt to create a strong contrast with the natural colours of the site. We liked the idea of the extension existing as more of a strange object within a sub-tropical garden, rather than a typical extension to a quaint Cornish cottage.

Joe Reilly, Director, COAL Architecture & Interior Design

Project data

Location Cornwall
Start on site September 2018
Completion date December 2021
Gross internal floor area 180m², 67m² (extension)
Contract /procurement route Self-Build
Construction cost Undisclosed
Architect COAL
Client Private
Structural engineer JSJ Design
Landscaping Client
Approved building inspector Cornwall Council
CAD software used ArchiCAD

Written by FRAN WILLIAMS. Photography by LOGAN IRVINE-MACDOUGALL.