Overlooking the Wye Valley

The project, which overlooks the Wye Valley in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, meticulously restored the existing three-storey 18th-century stone farmhouse as well as adding a two-storey wing partially embedded into the hillside.

A highly competitive year with contenders excelling in sustainability

Chair of this year’s judges Amin Taha said: ‘Some decades in the making, the replacement of a very large 1970s shed housing a pool and ancillary spaces with Alison Brooks Architects’ lower-scaled and fragmented form impressed the jury, in a highly competitive year with contenders excelling in sustainability, craftsmanship, reuse, economy of means and thought-provoking sensitivity.

‘House on the Hill balanced these where others may have, for instance, reused but at disproportionate cost, or crafted but to no innovative end.’

He added: ‘The jury felt Alison Brooks Architects had applied its long-researched process of subtly breaking down the rigid and spatially predictable grid with gentle inflection – adding depth of scale and richness of experience to the existing house, and through the new extension, transitioning with ease into the beautifully landscaped gardens.

‘It is a model of architectural approach applicable to all scales, resulting from the architects’ long practised ideas and the clients’ successful collaboration.’

A labour of love in architectural form

RIBA president, Simon Allford described the project as a ‘labour of love in architectural form’, adding: ‘This geometric design skilfully fuses together the old with the new – connecting two architectures separated by over 300 years.

‘Every detail has been meticulously considered and exquisitely finished, resulting in a truly remarkable home that enhances its unique setting.’