Tour Woven, a new house by Giles Miller Studio

hero front facade exterior with screens and glazing of woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio — (Image credit: Rachel Ferriman)

Woven is nestled among trees, on an idyllic spot a few moments from the sandy beaches of Broadstairs on the Kent coast. This is a house designed to immerse its residents in nature; and even at first glance, it is easy to see how. Its author, Giles Miller Studio, wanted to 'break down barriers' with this design, and the house certainly does that, literally and figuratively – both internally, with its expansive, open-plan design, and externally, as it seemingly expands outwards and embraces the outdoors through floor-to-ceiling glazing on all sides and its 'woven', sculptural façade ready for nature to grow on and around it.

metal screens and galss transparencies at woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

Woven: a house for immersing yourself in nature

Giles Miller champions experiential and finely crafted design through his namesake studio. 'The buildings we inhabit have a direct impact on our state of mind,' he says. 'Through their design they are curators of light, sound and human interaction, and they can expose us to nature and organic materials to dramatically positive effect. We believe that this aspiration, in synchrony with our latest surface and sculptural experimentation in the studio, has spawned a wholly unique architectural typology.'

stairs up to woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

With Woven, Miller envisioned the house's external skin as a series of intricate and delicately designed screens whose sculptural latticework allows light in, views out, and nature to inhabit them (as the site's jasmine, clematis and other plants are encouraged to grow and engulf the house in foliage and flowers). The pattern on the screens was inspired by the 'mathematical circularity of twisted rattan weave', explains the designer.

exterior detail of woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

Inside, meanwhile, warm timber clads nearly every surface the eye can see. A Miele kitchen, Vispring beds, Grohe kitchen and bathroom fittings, Tala lighting, Caesarstone Frozen Terra surfaces and countertops, and L.Ercolani furniture help compose a domestic space fit for 21st-century living.

side view at dusk of woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

'Woven is a manifesto building – from the ground up and from the inside out, it has been designed to maximise the richness of experience for inhabitants through a unique approach to material selection and composition,' writes the studio, of Woven.

living space with views at woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

'The project has been delivered by a collaborative cohort led by Giles and his studio which includes architects, artists, engineers and makers alongside some of the world’s most conscientious suppliers.'

interior with glazed walls at woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

bespoke wooden kitchen at woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

bedroom at woven, a house by Giles Miller Studio

gilesmiller.com

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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).