Kentmere Hall, Conservation and Alteration, Cumbria

Woollacott Gilmartin Architects for private client
Contract value: undisclosed 
GIA: 678m²

Grade II* listed Kentmere Hall was an unmodernised working farm with extensive, ad-hoc modern infill, dilapidated outbuildings and hardstanding. The new client wanted a family home that was well conserved, historic, warm and light, and built using traditional skills and local, natural materials. The historic fabric of the 14th century tower, C15th Hall and Cross Hall, and C17th Bank Barn, had to be retained, revealed and conserved. External changes were confined to double-glazed windows and doors, three rooflights, a chimney, and portions of lead roof; internally there were new floor levels and an opening made in the tower. While the new fabric is made using historic materials and methods, the work is firmly of a contemporary hand – the distinction between new and old always evident.

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