Rocket House, Northumberland

2025 RIBA North East Award
2025 RIBA Small Project of the Year
2025 RIBA Conservation Award, sponsored by VELUX

Rocket House, Northumberland
Napper Architects for private client

Contract value: Confidential
GIA: 48.2m²

Rocket House is a micro-holiday home on the Northumberland coast that has been carefully conserved by its owners. Originally ‘part of the package’ when they bought the neighbouring property, the owners soon realised the importance that this little building had in national maritime history. 

They found that historically, there were around 300 rocket houses all over the country. A cart with a rocket attached to a line could be taken out across the field and the rocket fired into the ocean to rescue sailors wrecked on the treacherous rocks, pulling them back one by one. The client’s painstaking research revealed that these buildings are a rapidly disappearing part of our coastal heritage, with only 20 or so now remaining. 

A series of meticulous and sensitive moves have conserved the building for the future, while also adapting it to be a useful space for family and friends to stay in. The local community’s support for the conservation of this part of their village’s history makes this project’s story about more than just the building. 

Externally, the original whinstone was covered in historically inappropriate masonry paint. Removing this was a painstaking process, carefully judged to take off enough but not too much – leaving the story of the building’s previous treatment clearly legible. The 1990s side extension has been remodelled and reroofed, with carefully crafted lead detailing and a new dormer window directing views to the coast.

The building is an exemplar of master craftspeople using their traditional skills in a beautiful, contemporary but sympathetic manner. Internally, the once tight spaces have been reconfigured to provide comfortable and adaptable accommodation, while always being able to read the original scale – and the all-important views out of the double doors. Interior stone walls have been fully repointed in lime mortar.

The project bears witness to the client’s determination to preserve a piece of heritage, but also their relationship with their architect – one of absolute trust and amazing collaboration.

See the rest of the RIBA North East winners here. And all the RIBA UK Awards here.

To see the whole RIBA UK Awards process visit architecture.com.

RIBA Regional Awards 2025 sponsored by Autodesk, EH Smith, Equitone and VELUX