Rural Office bookends Delfyd Farmhouse in Wales with larch-clad extensions

British architecture studio Rural Office has added larch-clad extensions on either side of this farmhouse on the south Welsh coast, bringing flexible social spaces to the remote property.

The Carmarthen-based practice was commissioned to extend Delfyd Farmhouse, a traditional stone cottage surrounded by dunes on the Gower Peninsula in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Built around 1895, the farmhouse's ground floor needed expanding to create more space for the clients to entertain family and friends.

Rural Office designed two "modest" extensions on either side of the existing building, which follows a simple rectangular plan and features Georgian sash windows on its main facade.

The new additions were scaled to accentuate the hierarchy of the farmhouse and contain a new guest wing on the east side and a dining and sitting room to the west.

"Together, they can be seen as an agglomeration of rural typologies – reflecting the language and scale of other settlements where ad-hoc structures are assembled over time to support the changing needs of the occupants," said Niall Maxwell, principal at Rural Office.

The guest wing, which also doubles up as a gym for the client, includes a bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, with a separate entrance from the driveway.

The new dining and sitting room sits next to the existing kitchen and provides more space for entertaining with panoramic views out to the hills in the south, and coastline in the north.

Designed to create "pockets of space" at either end of the farmhouse, the extensions were created with flexibility in mind.

"Both extensions can be shut off from the main dwelling, allowing the occupants to reduce their heat demands when they are at work, when away, or when not hosting guests," added Maxwell.

The four volumes are topped with pitched zinc roofs and covered in vertical larch beaded cladding, which was sourced to maximise the life-cycle of the building.

Delfyd Farm is far from nearby settlements and is accessed from narrow country lanes and farm tracks, prompting the studio to specify materials that would not need transporting on a large truck.

Inside, the studio adopted a similarly "restrained" approach, with quarry tile and beaded oak panelling designed to complement the original farmhouse's rich palette of materials.

"Vaulted plaster ceilings bring height and natural light to the new spaces, acting as counterpoints to the mellow tones of the farmhouse," added Maxwell.

Other upgraded farmhouses include Will Gamble Architects's Flint Farm, a glass-lined extension to a farmhouse in North Hertfordshire, and Loader Monteith's replacement of a dilapidated farm building in Angus, Scotland.

The photography is by Building Narratives.

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