Driftwood Estate

The brief

A clifftop estate on the north Cornish coast, where the Atlantic wind shapes everything: the form of the land, the growth of the vegetation, the psychology of habitation. The programme called for a main house, two guest pavilions, and a pool house, all connected by a landscape that feels entirely wild.

The main building is anchored into the cliff by a heavy stone plinth — a gesture of resistance to the elemental conditions. Above it, the timber-clad living volumes step back with the topography, their lean zinc roofs offering minimal resistance to the prevailing wind. Deep verandas on the sheltered south and east faces extend habitation into the landscape whenever conditions allow.

The two guest pavilions are conceived as simple containers for looking: one west toward the ocean, one south over the working garden. The pool house, set into a hollow in the garden, is almost invisible at ground level — a pure experience of water, sky, and salt air.