The Shingle House by NORD Architecture is the second completed holiday home in Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture project.
Located on a beach in Dungeness, Kent, the house is clad in tarred black shingles.
The interior is clad in white-painted wooden panels.
Glazed concertina doors in the living areas and bedrooms open up the interior spaces to the beach.
The Shingle House sleeps eight people and is currently available to rent.
Living Architecture is a scheme initiated by writer Alain de Botton to create a series of vacation homes in picturesque locations, designed by prominent architects.
Peter Zumthor, Hopkins Architects, MVRDV and Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects have all designed houses as part of this project (see our earlier story).
See also: Balancing Barn by MVRDV and Mole Architects
The following information is from Living Architecture:
The Shingle House is sited on one of the most unusual and poetic landscapes in England, on the shingle beach of Dungeness, near Romney Marsh.
The vast beach is empty save for a random collection of fisherman's huts (many of them owned by artists, including - most famously - the late film-maker Derek Jarman), two lighthouses, the terminus of a miniature coastal steam train and in the far distance, the dramatic form of a nuclear power station.
The entire beach is classified as a nature reserve and is filled with unusual flora and is a haven for a plethora of birdlife.
Living Architecture's house is by a young Scottish practice, NORD Architecture, who responded to the natural drama of the site with a simple monumental black house, finished in tarred black shingles on the outside and in a beautiful palette of concrete and timber within.
The Shingle House sleeps 8 people, and is available to rent from October 2010.
See also:
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| Houses for Living Architecture |
Het Entreehuis by Bureau B+B |
Balancing Barn by MVRDV and Mole Architects |
This is a favorite – wow! and well done to the photographer too.
love it! what a dream!
I find nice to see how new technologies and construction systems, allow to get simple forms in a simple way, and with a clean finishing.
I like the interior. The bathroom and bedroom is a real joy!
Personally, I will feel a little more relax if there are fences around it :)
not allowed fences at Dungeness! if you're there it's part of the joy of the place…
Dungeness beach is a special place and the beach huts have a special place in the local culture, its a pleasure to see the tradition being carried on
hope someone got to eat that breakfast before it went too cold ;0
Beautiful! Making me homesick…
They eat scrambled AND boiled eggs in the morning!? ;)
Beautiful, lovely choice of materials.
A Black structure like this would be a disaster in Australia,, happy cooking.OOps
forgot about that.
But it’s not in Australia, is it? It’s in England. Why not go laugh at the Inuits and their ridiculous igloos, which “would melt in seconds in Australia”?
It suits its context and climate very well. I could pick out a load of big glass boxes in hot countries (Australia included) which only survive through insane amounts of air conditioning, but who’d do a thing like that?
I LOVE the house. Beautiful.
Fund reader of De Boton. Like his books.
I'm an architect myself.
BUT. His aim with these house fail.
He wants to show "real" people the beauty and splendor of architecture. He claims "real" people just needs to have the opportunity to see how great architecture can be, and then they will be enlightened. Who says they share his views on what is good? Who says they are not just fine with the pastiche he so much loathes? Why this need to teach good taste. It's arrogant and narrow minded.
It's not the houses I dislike. It's the idea.
And the irony is that the majority of the people who are going to rent these houses are archiects. So sad.
"yes, I just slept in the Zumthor house – yeah you know, the one Boton had made. Great space. I love it."
"oh, realy? I just slept in the Nord house – great materials, I must say"