British Houzz: Guernsey Conversion Preserves Its Interesting Past
This former tomato packing shed is now a contemporary home that embraces open-plan living and natural light
“We wanted to create a very flexible, adaptable space,” says architect Jamie Falla of the M House. Formerly a tomato packing shed, it’s now a three-bedroom home, simply designed to celebrate the building’s soaring roof, original timbers and sunny location. “When we first saw the shed in 2010, it was just a big open-plan space with metal cladding on the exterior,” says Jamie. “The plan was to keep the existing structure – the envelope – and preserve as much of that open space.”
Planning permission already existed to convert the building into a two-storey home, with a floor of bedrooms above. “That would have obscured the lofty roof, though,” says Jamie. “You would not have been able to read the history of the building.” So to avoid this, Jamie and his team designed a box that sits within the large, open-plan space, which contains the kitchen, storage, shower room and utility area. Opposite, a glass-fronted platform hovers above the living room, and both areas provide additional accommodation on the upper level. Jamie then added a single-storey wing containing the bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study.
Jamie was designing the property to sell, and not for a client, so he wanted to make it appealing to anyone, from a family with young children to a retired couple. “It had to be flexible, but not having a client also gave us some freedom,” says Jamie. “This is, essentially, an experimental building.”
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Central Guernsey, the Channel Islands
Built: 2012
Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 shower room
Architect: Jamie Falla of Jamie Falla Architecture
Planning permission already existed to convert the building into a two-storey home, with a floor of bedrooms above. “That would have obscured the lofty roof, though,” says Jamie. “You would not have been able to read the history of the building.” So to avoid this, Jamie and his team designed a box that sits within the large, open-plan space, which contains the kitchen, storage, shower room and utility area. Opposite, a glass-fronted platform hovers above the living room, and both areas provide additional accommodation on the upper level. Jamie then added a single-storey wing containing the bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study.
Jamie was designing the property to sell, and not for a client, so he wanted to make it appealing to anyone, from a family with young children to a retired couple. “It had to be flexible, but not having a client also gave us some freedom,” says Jamie. “This is, essentially, an experimental building.”
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Central Guernsey, the Channel Islands
Built: 2012
Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 shower room
Architect: Jamie Falla of Jamie Falla Architecture
A metal-clad shed is now a beautiful timber building. “It’s a very lightweight timber structure,” says Jamie. He chose English sweet chestnut for the cladding, and left it untreated. “Exposure to the UK climate and UV light damages any finish or paintwork,” says Jamie. “So we left the timber as it is. It’s going to go black in places, grey in others, and become more weathered.”
The granite by the front door is all that remains of a low wall that ran around the property. “It’s a nice reminder of what was there before,” says Jamie. The window on this side sits proud of the property, to create a window seat inside. “You can sit there with a book to enjoy the morning light,” says Jamie. “It’s about being able to enjoy different moments of the day in different parts of the house.”
A single-storey extension houses the bedrooms and two bathrooms. A corridor flowing off the front entrance leads down to this section of the property, and a wall of glass helps capture plenty of natural light.
The kitchen is contained in a box that sits within the open-plan living space. Behind it, there is a utility room, shower room and integrated storage space; above is a study or play room. You can walk around it and access the living space from either side. “The box is clad with the wide Douglas fir boards we used on the floor,” says Jamie. “The upper floor is fronted with toughened glass.”
Kitchen: Poliform; Douglas fir flooring, 300mm wide, with soap and lye finish: Dinesen
Kitchen: Poliform; Douglas fir flooring, 300mm wide, with soap and lye finish: Dinesen
The same Douglas fir that was used for the flooring and to clad the internal box crops up on the staircase’s beautiful, built-in handrail. “It’s about touching a soft piece of timber as you rise up and down in the house,” says Jamie. “The carpenters who worked on this project were real craftsmen. They were amazing, so we had fun pushing them to create something wonderful and seeing them enjoy the process.” Over time, the rail will acquire a patina from all the people who have used it and lived here. “Details like this run through the house,” says Jamie. “Little flowing details, that bring a sense of harmony.”
The platform provides a more intimate living space ("escape space”, as Jamie calls it) and the circular window is a playful touch. “We all have little motifs and ideas that were planted in us during childhood,” says Jamie. “This is about going through the different- shaped windows on Play School. It’s the round window! I would never normally put a circular window in, but it was a nice way to replace two small, high windows that were there originally.”
Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen Series 7 chairs: Skandium; Piet Hein table: Fritz Hansen
Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen Series 7 chairs: Skandium; Piet Hein table: Fritz Hansen
Corridors run both sides of the kitchen ‘box’. This side runs along the garden wall, where huge windows allow in lots of light. “We are interested in place,” says Jamie. “So we have tried to capture the south light and also the morning light through these huge, theatrical windows.”
Making the most of natural light was one driver of this project, but Jamie also prioritised the electrical lighting, too. “We always have a lighting designer on every build,” he says. “It’s important that at night the house shines as a whole.”
The house is full of brilliantly thought-out details that do not shout for attention, but give the building depth and character. “The way the master bedroom windows turn back towards the house, for instance,” says Jamie. “They create a courtyard feel. These kinds of details are quite subtle and you may not notice them at first, but they all add to the experience of living here.”
Arne Jacobsen Swan lounge chair: Fritz Hansen
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Arne Jacobsen Swan lounge chair: Fritz Hansen
TELL US
Share your thoughts on this beautiful conversion in the comments section