Larch House

Creating a Modern Family Home That Belongs to Its Landscape

Located within the Green Belt, this bespoke family home demonstrates how contemporary architecture can successfully respond to a sensitive rural setting.

The clients wanted to transform their existing property into a home better suited to modern family life, while respecting the character of the surrounding landscape. Allan Joyce Architects developed a design that reuses and extends the existing footprint, creating a contemporary dwelling that feels connected to its setting rather than separate from it.

A Sensitive Approach to Replacement and Extension

The design brings together the original house and former annex through a carefully considered single-storey link, creating a unified home with improved flow and functionality.

The use of silvered larch cladding helps soften the architectural form, allowing the building to sit naturally within its countryside surroundings. The material palette creates a warm, understated character while giving the home a distinctive contemporary identity.

Designed Around Family Life

At the heart of the home is a generous entrance hall that acts as a central gathering point and provides a strong sense of arrival. This leads into a spacious dual-aspect kitchen, dining and living area, alongside a separate formal living room.

Both spaces have been carefully positioned to maximise views across the garden and surrounding landscape. Large glazed openings bring natural light deep into the home while creating a strong connection between the internal spaces and the outdoors.

The relationship between the house and garden was a key part of the design, with direct access leading to an outdoor entertaining area complete with an external kitchen. This creates a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living, allowing the family to enjoy the landscape throughout the year.

Sustainable Family Living

The home provides five bedrooms, two family bathrooms and a generous principal suite with an en-suite and dressing room, creating flexible accommodation that can adapt to changing family needs.

Sustainability was integrated throughout the design, with solar panels and battery storage incorporated to improve energy efficiency, reduce reliance on grid energy and support lower running costs over the lifetime of the home.

A Bespoke Home Designed for Its Setting

The finished home combines contemporary design, practical family living and sustainable performance within a sensitive Green Belt location.

Through careful planning, material selection and collaboration with the clients, Allan Joyce Architects created a home that responds to its landscape while providing a modern, comfortable and enduring place to live.

Our Role

Allan Joyce Architects specialise in bespoke residential architecture, creating individual homes that respond to their owners, their surroundings and the opportunities of each site. From Green Belt replacement dwellings to contemporary countryside homes, we help private clients transform their aspirations into carefully considered architectural solutions.