The proposed scheme is for a new domestic art gallery on a farm in Somerset. The proposed gallery is intended to provide space for the client to display artwork within their own estate. The scheme also intends to place sustainability at the heart of the project by setting ambitious environmental targets, aiming to be the first net zero gallery in the UK. The whole scheme will be viewed holistically with the landscape being integral to the project. The new buildings will integrate with and extend the existing landscape of the estate significantly increasing biodiversity and allowing for re-wilding. The proposals are the product of a thoughtful process of site analysis, selection and iterative design evolution. The buildings will be designed as artworks in their own right, sculptural forms that are ‘of’ the landscape rather than simply ‘in’ it, beautiful monuments to the treasures within.

The design aims to embed itself in the site and be shaped by the different landscapes from woodland, wetland, to meadows of tall grasses. Guided by a landscape-led approach, the scheme maximises biodiversity.

The gallery settles into the land, its form partly sunken to anchor it in the Somerset landscape. Walls built from site spoil root the architecture in context while reducing waste. Designed to Passivhaus principles, it aspires to exemplary energy performance, minimising heat loss and harnessing the earth to regulate temperature. The result is a calm, stable environment for art. More than a container, the building becomes part of the landscape – a sustainable, sculptural presence shaped by and belonging to its place.

The scheme references the local historic farmsteads which typically develop as collections of buildings arranged around a central courtyard.

The scheme draws on the local vernacular, employing a language of layered stone and rammed earth walls that resonate with the rural character of Somerset. Materials are drawn from the site and its surroundings — rammed earth dug from the ground itself, together with locally sourced limestones including Coral Rag, Pisolite, and Under Oolite Rock. These are composed to create a gradient of weight and texture, shifting from heavier, darker tones at the base to lighter finishes above.