Silver How

LLANHENNOCK

Silver How is a generous 5 bedroom home located within the Conservation Area of Llanhennock, Monmouthshire. Silver How’s sensitive site is dominated by trees – notably several enormous Oaks with legal protection. The new dwelling replaces a dilapidated 1960’s house that had been built next to an Arts & Crafts stable.

Hall + Bednarczyk’s design repurposes the stable as a generous family kitchen, connected via a glazed link to a new stone-built wing of principal accommodation. The two blocks combine to form an L shaped plan that embraces a south-facing courtyard space. The 440m2 project is 20% larger than the previous dwelling, reflecting the client’s overall programme of requirements, yet presents a modestly-scaled gable end to the street, where it reads alongside the subordinate stable building.

Silver How employs a steel frame, allowing a flexible layout to benefit from large spans and slender structure. This frees up an architectural composition which marries the lightness and transparency of modern construction with the permanence and heft of locally quarried sandstone. The skill of local masons was crucial to achieving finely edged stone detailing which aims to bring a contemporary sensibility and overall unity to the design.