A House of Wood Shingle, Bath

2025 RIBA South West & Wessex Award

A House of Wood Shingle, Bath
Forgeworks Architects for Celia McCarthy
Contract value: Confidential
GIA: 241m²

The decision to cloak this 1950s Bath bungalow in new, highly insulated cedar shingle cladding has resulted in a completely transformative architectural outcome. Inventive use of the existing structure conceals its previous incarnation and creates a distinctive new home with improved energy performance. With two modest additions to the northern and southern ends – respectively providing a master bedroom and boot room – the skilful reworking of the plan has created a completely unrecognisable suite of internal spaces. 

Central to this was the creation of a generous top-lit hallway that links all four bedrooms. This unifying space not only brings light and generosity to a previously dark part of the house, it also reinforces the spatial hierarchy between the privacy of rest and the primacy of communal life in each of the three uniquely appointed reception rooms. A series of delightful axial vistas through the plan, terminating in framed exterior views, and other likewise thoughtfully positioned openings throughout, are other strong features of the house. 

Key to the success of this project was the informal collaboration between the architect and the client, Celia McCarthy, who is an interior designer with Richardson Studio. Through McCarthy’s expert selection of internal colours, materials and joinery detailing, the interiors take on a much richer and more delightful quality than might be expected when approaching the minimal and more muted external expression of cedar shingles.

To enable these interiors to thrive, Forgeworks Architects has 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 monopitch 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.

The project has provided a lot on a limited budget, particularly in view of the steep site. The jury found the sympathetically unadorned design humane, stylish and clearly a comfortable family home. They were impressed with how it retained some of the old house. That and the choice of timber infill structure where required have contributed to a sustainable design that is replicable by others.

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