Blue Door

MONMOUTHSHIRE

Blue Door is a steel-framed 260m² four bedroom house located within the Wye Valley AONB in rural Monmouthshire, enjoying far-reaching views over the pristine surrounding countryside.

The fluid layered design of the two storey home establishes generous and carefully orientated views over the unfolding valley below, while creating overhangs that form balconies and solar shading.  The expressive form of the building relates to the site’s hillside topography, and emerged from sketches of overlapping sycamore seed pods that lay scattered across the site during early visits.

A curved retaining wall nestles the building into the rear bank, creating a top-lit ground floor gallery for the clients’ collection of ceramics. The choice of oxidised copper-coated ceramic tiles and cedar boarding blend the scheme into the hues of the hillside.  The highly insulated house is heated by a ground source heat pump augmented by a heat recovery system, resulting in a 60% reduction in energy usage compared to building regulations, and achieving Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4.