Hampshire home Sailor's House is a sustainable haven

hero exterior of garden facade of timber clad sustainable hampshire home

(Image credit: Brett Charles)

published 2 February 2023

Minimalist architecture and sustainability meet in this Hampshire home. Sailor's House by OB Architecture is a bespoke residence for a private client with a background in sailing – a world that not only lent the house its name, but also informed its sustainable architecture approach that puts nature first and allows the residents to keep in touch with their green surroundings.

exterior detail of hampshire home with external terrace for dining

A sustainable Hampshire home

The Hampshire home sits on a secluded, generous piece of land, placed centrally in a green garden that neighbours a Grade II-listed church. The structure itself, which occupies a Z-shaped floorplan, is composed of two single-storey volumes and a central, two-storey one, and was crafted to ensure views of the precious historical and natural surroundings are not obstructed in any way. At the same time, stepping inside, the interior spaces offer a serene, contemporary domestic haven.

hero exterior showing the entire garden facade in hampshire home, seen at dusk and lit from within

The owners were keen to create an environmentally sensitive home, and the Winchester-based studio's architects, led by founding partner Olly Bray, obliged. As a result, the house uses not only high-performing building fabric and carefully calculated levels of airtightness, but it also features integrated renewable energy technologies to minimise the mains supply of energy and water. And while the modern home replaces a tired, smaller, 1970s existing bungalow on site, the built area footprint remains roughly the same.

outside looking inside at the illuminated staircase in hampshire home

Inside, the home contains ample living space, which opens up its pared-down, calming interiors to the leafy outdoors. A neutral colour palette and the extensive use of wood in surfaces and detailing make for light and tactile spaces. The ground level is intrinsically connected to the terraces and planting beyond, while the much lighter, glulam timber-framed and clad upstairs volume envelopes three generous bedrooms. Meanwhile, the ground floor forms a 'base' for the structure, anchoring it to the ground, made of a steel frame (also containing highly insulated timber infill).

softness and dappled light in minimalist hampshire home

light coloured minimalist home interior with timber floor

gardens and timber trellis in hampshire home

obarchitecture.co.uk

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).