The wings of the Summerhouse are single-storey with flat leaded roofs with a single oak-framed bronze casement window either side, allowing light to enter the wings. Internally, these wings are expressed by creating a massive stone entablature that spans from the North to the South elevations and supports the wall over the top, forming the main mass of the summerhouse. Underneath this large full entablature consisting of an architrave, frieze and cornice, are a pair of Irish Blue Kilkenny Doric columns, carved from monoliths, meaning that the entire column was turned from one piece of stone. Rather than polishing the columns, we decided to have a honed finish to create a soft texture to the face and which compliments the same flame-textured stone of the floor. Behind each pair of columns are the glass enclosures of the steam room and sauna set back in floor channels, allowing the glass panels to jump from floor to ceiling without a barrier. The glass is set back only a couple of inches away from the back of the columns, which reflect in the glass, providing extra depth to the space.

The Sauna and steam room occupy the rear two bays created by the columns, with the front bays on the West side of the structure being used as circulation space and to house the two matching sets of cabinets that conceal the electronic equipment. I designed these cupboards to reflect the architecture in the main house, with unfluted Corinthian columns developed in our own style using the beech and fern leaf motif we had developed in the main hall of the house, to the centre of each of the cabinets. Either side are mirrored doors concealing pipework behind and allowing for storage of apparel, whilst beneath two decorative metal panels, designed by Lydia, are concealed dehumidifiers built into the plinth of the cabinets. Both cabinets were beautifully made and installed by Houghtons of York.

For more photographs and details on the Oak cabinets and decorative panels see the Curiosities Emporium post about them here. 

My initial thoughts on creating a central fireplace were that it should be simple and striking in scale. I had ideas of a stone monolith, something that resembled a single piece of stone from floor to ceiling, so we developed the design for a fireplace opening with a segmental arch and keystone over and allowing the stonework to continue with a taper to the intersection of the roof. We also allowed the oak rafters to pass and pocket into the stone, giving the appearance that the fireplace and chimneystack are a structural part of the roof.

As within the main house, the back of the hearth was constructed using purple handmade glazed bricks set in black mortar, laid in a herringbone pattern. We were lucky enough to work with a supplier in London, who provided a sarcophagus grate, a 19th Century refurbished item, adapted for use with gas. The vision was to enable a roaring fire to be lit whilst enjoying the sunken spa pool at the centre of the room. Either side of the fireplace are two oak doors with stone architrave surrounds, sitting over stone skirtings. These lead to ‘Jack and Jill’ changing rooms, which form the East wing of the stable extension on the back of the Summerhouse.

Either side of the Summerhouse, we originally developed a design for two open loggias formed in brickwork with oak rafters, however it soon became apparent the client wanted a covered space to enjoy in the winter and when it was raining, so Jess and I set about creating an open external fireplace on the South elevation of the East wing, that would readily link to the chimneystack we had created at the end of this structure, to serve the orangery fireplace. The external fireplace itself involved a lot of design work. I wanted to do something that was more Arts & Crafts involving less stonework, so I created a tall opening flanked either side in brickwork, with a segmental arch formed by a triple headed segmental arch with kneelers made in creasing tiles either side. Short sections of roofing tile create an angle that leadsto the central chimneystack, which punches through the loggia roof. The back of the fireplace was constructed using the purple coke-stained brickwork, as with the other fireplaces but the side cheeks were formed entirely of creasing tiles, including a deep 45 degree chamfer that was a testament to the front entrance of the main house.  This then knitted together the semi-circular hearth that was created entirely using creasing tiles and brickwork. The whole construction took many weeks for the brick worker to lay and is a testament to the skill and patience that it requires to build such a thing. The hearth is also created using the purple handmade bricks and has a small chute at its centre to allow for debris to be cleared out.

For more photographs and details on the outdoor fireplace see the Curiosities Emporium post about it here. 

The fireplace provides warmth to the covered loggia which is sandwiched between the North elevation of the Summerhouse and the South elevation of the main house. The loggia itself was designed by Scott and I, using a simple post and beam oak structure with bladed ties. The rafters are also oak with chamfered edges and long cyma mouldings to their end that project past the line of the beams, creating an overhang that matches that of the main house. A parapet wall created in leadwork conceals a hidden box gutter behind, with hidden downpipes in the posts to ensure that the oak upright members of the loggia are kept free. Each of the oak posts rest on a stone stylobate that has a small lead capping with the same tooled margin and scabbled field as the surrounding masonry used on the house and Summerhouse. The open loggia to the other side of the Summerhouse is constructed in the same way, but has no roof and is framed to the East, with a tall wall and lead capping detail that travels around the Southern flank. This terminates in a long, curved sweep that forms the Southern edge to the loggia, which in turn links to the central causeway where our brick loggias are positioned in the centre of the gardens.

The Summerhouse was designed to not compete with the architecture or scale of the main house, but to create a structure that would be inside-out, that would both celebrate the landscaping and the designs that we were carrying out to the gardens, as well as to complement and enhance the architecture of the main house, particularly the South elevation. The building is humanist in scale with all the details very much on show and able to be directly viewed from the ground. This meant that every cut, every brick joint and every detail had to be precise in order for the ensemble to work. The simple structure also includes a number of concealed details that enable the mechanical and electrical systems within the building to work, including ventilation systems, concealed speaker systems and concealed lighting that illuminates the structure and its features both inside and out.