A House of Wood Shingle
by Forgeworks Architects
Award RIBA South West and Wessex Award 2025
The award winner tells us, "A House of Wood Shingle dramatically transforms a 1950s bungalow by wrapping the entire exterior in a natural cedar cladding and reconfiguring its interior spaces to create a highly insulated energy-efficient family home.
Sitting on a hillside location overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, the project challenges the potential for reworking existing fabric into a new visually cloaked and insulated form.
The project is a collaboration between Forgeworks Architects and the client, Celia McCarthy of Richardson Studio, and her young family. The personal interior complements the carefully considered architecture, delivering a house which celebrates the principles of retrofit and reuse over demolish and new build."
Extract from the RIBA Awards Jury citation, "To enable these interiors to thrive, the architects have rationalised a previously cavernous and contorted plan, to produce more harmonious and well-proportioned spaces that clearly serve the family who enthusiastically call this place home.
Other architectural moves include the simple inversion of the existing mono-pitch roof, which now opens up breathtaking and extensive views to the west, reaching as far as South Wales, likened by the client to having a distinctly LA vibe. Externally, new parking, steps, gabions and gravel landscape provide a well-considered approach to the house. The shingles and window details of the exterior are very well executed, with contrasting black-clad additions."
Read the full citation from the RIBA Awards Jury on RIBA Journal
Interior design Richardson Studio
Structural engineer PK & Partners
Planning consultant PK & Partners
Gross internal area 241m²
