{"id":531173,"date":"2025-10-27T13:32:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T13:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/531173\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T13:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T13:32:24","slug":"nick-willson-architects-lines-three-oaks-farm-with-steel-framed-walkways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/531173\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Willson Architects lines Three Oaks Farm with steel-framed walkways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Glazed living areas shaded by a steel-framed cloister overlook a courtyard<\/a> at Three Oaks Farm, a home<\/a> in West Sussex designed by London studio Nick Willson Architects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Located on the site of a disused farm on the outskirts of Ifold, Three Oaks Farm is surrounded by lawns, a wildflower meadow and a small pool, all of which are visible through the full-height glazing.<\/p>\n

It was designed by Nick Willson Architects<\/a> across a single level, ensuring the clients could continue living there comfortably in close connection to the landscape as they get older.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree Oaks Farm is a one-storey house arranged around a courtyard<\/p>\n

“The house explores what a contemporary courtyard house would be like in a semi-rural setting, one which explores the relationship of nature to building, ecology, sustainability and intergenerational living,” said the studio.<\/p>\n

“There is an intimate connection to nature between landscaping and the house. Views through the house have been carefully designed to provide a connection to nature, daylight,” it added.<\/p>\n

“The changing seasons will allow the views and colours through the house to change as the trees shed and forgo their foliage.”<\/p>\n

\"ThreeA zinc-clad roof tops its brick walls<\/p>\n

The facades of Three Oaks Farm contrast pale brickwork with full-height glazing that brings in light and views. They are topped by a zinc-clad roof with large overhangs, which extend to form a cloister-style space around the central courtyard and out to the gardens.<\/p>\n

Living, dining and kitchen areas line the northern side of the courtyard on either side of a smaller herb garden, connected by a glazed link that opens onto the walkways through sliding glass doors.<\/p>\n

\"HouseTall glazing gives views of the courtyard and the surrounding gardens<\/p>\n

A row of bedrooms encloses the courtyard’s eastern edge, overlooking the wildflower meadow on the opposite side. This is hugged by the main bedroom to the north, alongside a yoga studio.<\/p>\n

To the west of Three Oaks Farm, a garage block sits alongside a home office, plant room and utility space, divided into individual blocks that are separated by more small gardens and planters.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Flint<\/p>\n

Flint House by Nick Willson Architects\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

In both the bedrooms and living areas, sections of the roof pitch upwards to create double-height spaces with large clerestory windows, the sides of which have been clad externally in zinc shingles.<\/p>\n

A monochromatic palette in the interiors contrasts with the more textural brickwork of the exterior, as well as the panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. Above, a timber-lined ceiling creates a continuity between the courtyard canopy and living areas.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorPitch roofs create double-height interiors<\/p>\n

“The key component of Three Oaks Farm was to combine new technology with an element of craft,” said the studio.<\/p>\n

“The house brings together a rich mixture of crafted elements and landscaping: the textural brick wall, zinc cladding and timber joinery, which are all made by hand, employing specialist tradespeople,” it added.<\/p>\n

\"GlazedThree Oaks Farm was designed to be passively heated and ventilated<\/p>\n

The operation of Three Oaks Farm is designed to be “as off-grid as possible”, with photovoltaic panels and battery storage, passive heating and ventilation, rainwater collection and an air-source heat pump.<\/p>\n

Previously a director at Willson & Bell, Nick Willson founded his eponymous studio in 2010. Its previous projects include a house in London clad with sections of flint, timber and lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The courtyard typology was also recently explored by UK studio Hugh Strange Architects for a rural home in Cornwall,<\/a> organised around a central garden that draws on a traditional farmstead.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Gareth Gardner<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glazed living areas shaded by a steel-framed cloister overlook a courtyard at Three Oaks Farm, a home in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,71587,131772,130551,4022,393,77,7931,172132,17022,126129,126130,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-531173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-bricks","11":"tag-british-houses","12":"tag-courtyards","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-houses","17":"tag-nick-willson-architects","18":"tag-residential-architecture-and-interiors","19":"tag-sectionall","20":"tag-sectionarchitecture","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115446386470783194","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}