Dovecote Studio, 2009

the re-purposing of an industrial ruin on the coast

The Dovecote Studio is part of our creative campus project for Snape Maltings on Suffolk’s east coast. Inhabiting a ruined Victorian dovecote at the threshold of the wide coastal marshes, the new studio is formed of an abstract, weathered steel ‘lining’, fabricated on site and craned into place, corresponding to the original building’s volume.

The interior space is lined with pale spruce plywood to create a singular, austere room. Roof glazing sheds an even north light and a small mezzanine window gives a view over the reed beds towards the North Sea. The studio can be used for artists and writers’ residencies, for music rehearsal and performance or for seminars and exhibitions. Only the minimum work needed to stablise the ruined brickwork was done before the new structure was inserted - decaying existing windows were left alone and vegetation growing over the dovecote was protected to allow an uninterrupted natural process of ageing.

The small structure alludes to the repurposing of the old maltings for creative use. Hovering between installation and architecture, it is the only demonstrative new element within an otherwise understated, almost invisible series of interventions that we have made elsewhere on the site.

“A complete architectural proposition, from concept to design, to manufacture, installation and use.” Judges Citation, The AJ Small Project Award

client

snape maltings

main contractor

elliston steady & hawes

structural engineer

price & myers

picture credits

philip vile


Awards
2010 — Quality of Place Award - Design: Dovecote Studio
2010 — Architects Journal Small Project Award: Dovecote Studio

Behind the scenes
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