Kate Darby and David Connor, Croft Lodge Studio, Leominster, Herefordshire, England

Architect: Kate Darby; Designer; David Connor

The existing 17th century ruined cottage was adjacent to a common. To the east end of the cottage sat stables that had fallen down and were beyond repair. The strategy for the Croft Lodge Studio was not to renovate or repair the 300-year-old structures: but to preserve them within a new high-performance outer envelope. This means that on the buiding now there are two roofs and two walls, an old one and a new one. Everything about the ruin was retained including the ivy, the birds nests, old fabric, the cobwebs and the dust.