Hughes House

A Contemporary Home for a Village Setting

Hughes House is a proposal for a bespoke, contemporary family home in the Surrey village of Shalford. Carefully positioned within its plot, the house has been designed to respond to its orientation, surrounding landscape and village character, creating a home that feels both contemporary and deeply connected to its setting.

Rather than replicating traditional architecture, the proposal interprets local forms and materials through a refined contemporary language, demonstrating how new homes can enhance established communities while meeting the needs of modern family life.

Designed Around Light and Landscape

The arrangement of the house is shaped by the movement of the sun across the site, with living spaces positioned to maximise natural daylight and strengthen the relationship between the interior and the garden.

Generous glazing frames carefully considered views while creating bright, open family spaces that flow naturally into the surrounding landscape. Throughout the design, openness is carefully balanced with privacy, ensuring the home feels both welcoming and comfortably secluded.

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Materiality

A restrained palette of timber, standing seam zinc and expansive glazing gives the house a calm architectural character that sits comfortably within its surroundings.

Vertical timber cladding introduces warmth and texture, drawing inspiration from the natural landscape, while the simple zinc roof unifies the building beneath a crisp contemporary form. Large glazed openings bring daylight deep into the home, reinforcing the connection between architecture and landscape.

A sedum roof softens the building when viewed from above, extending the visual continuity of the garden while supporting biodiversity and reducing rainwater run-off.

Contemporary Design with a Lasting Sense of Place

Every element of the proposal has been developed to create a home that is elegant, understated and responsive to its context. Through careful attention to proportion, materiality and landscape, Hughes House demonstrates how contemporary architecture can enrich a village setting without compromising its distinctive character.

The result is a thoughtfully designed family home that combines modern living with a strong sense of place, creating architecture that is both timeless and rooted in its surroundings.