Plinth House is located within the existing sunken walled garden of a Victorian Manor House. The proposal is for a highly contextual and contemporary home, providing a sensitive response to the setting of this Country pile, its grounds, and the openness of the Greenbelt area. The house has two main elements the 'plinth' wrapping around the garden and the 'pavilion' sitting on top of the plinth. The design allows for the intimate views, tranquility and the connection with the outside – the 'Plinth'. Long views across the valley, openness and connection to the upper entrance level - the 'Pavilion'.

The design in effect creates a cloister that sits within the existing parameters of the sunken garden and reaches out into the garden. Part of the cloister is glazed and therefore creating the internal spaces and part external with the outdoor kitchen and South facing sitting area.

Our approach has been to integrate off-grid and environmental technologies that are unobtrusive to the house' functionality. The major features to allow the house to have low energy and carbon strategies are: embedded solar to the roof of the pavilion, ground source heat in the walled garden and battery technology coupled with super insulation and airtightness to enable an off grid dwelling.