La Remise
Location:
Suffolk, UK
Client:
Private
Structural Engineer:
G.C Robertson & Associates Ltd.
Main Contractor:
Robert Norman Construction
Photographer:
Peter Cook
Set around a mile inland from the Suffolk coast, the site sits among generous, mature residential plots. The main house is positioned close to the shared entrance track, with the house and garage screening views to a large garden extending northwest. Within the garden were a modest garden room and, further back, a workshop and sheds.
The original house is a timber-framed Colt House, later extended in the 1990s with a two-storey brick addition. Our clients sought to modernise the home, rationalise the layout and improve connections to both the entrance gardens and the main rear garden. The project unifies the original house and extension, replaces the garden room with a self-contained Summerhouse overlooking the pond and tree line, and introduces a pair of artist studios designed to capture light and views across the site throughout the day.
Founded in 1919, Colt Houses are renowned for their high-quality prefabricated timber construction. With nearly 16,000 built in the UK and many more worldwide, Colt Houses have been designed by notable architects including Sir Edwin Lutyens and Clough Williams-Ellis. This project provided the opportunity to sensitively rework and upgrade a Colt House for contemporary living.
Internally, the house has been reconfigured to improve flow and orientation. The original central entrance was removed, freeing space within the bedroom wing, while a revised main entrance now opens directly to the living areas and garden beyond. A new, more generous staircase strengthens the relationship between ground and first-floor living spaces.
Externally, the house is fully reclad in red cedar shingles, now weathering to a soft silver grey. The new Summerhouse sits on an exposed concrete plinth, clad in vertically battened red cedar. Its simple wedge-shaped form mediates between the main house and the more angular volumes of the artist studios beyond.
