Due to be completed Summer 2025.

REAFE STUDIO is delighted to be working with a new client who has entrusted us with a rural woodland bungalow in need of a remodel and modernisation. Bluebell Cottage is situated on one of East Sussex’s most beautiful historic green lanes to the north of Lewes. It has stunning woodland and Downs views. Once rebuilt Bluebell Cottage will become a modern, multi-generational home. 

When the clients bought the property, it was essentially a collection of poorly-considered extensions scarfed onto an earlier small woodsman’s cottage. Over the decades, the property had been extended four times. Each intervention had been added to the next with little thought to space and visual impact. 

We decided to retain the basic outer horseshoe shape and reconfigure the interior space. The most recent extension consisted of a low-level infill construction spanning the previous builds. This was a poorly built structure that had little or no merit. We proposed removing this altogether and replacing it with a modern structure. The new addition would improve circulation and space and importantly allow light to be thrown into the existing building’s darker spaces. We proposed adding a striking internal picture garden to bring nature into the interior space.  

 In terms of the exterior of the building, we proposed reducing its visual impact and connecting it with the surrounding environment. The stark white structure would be reclad in large-format, black Viroc boards. The addition of this cladding along with improved window openings and insulation would create a more subtle visual impact when seen from the green lane to the north. We proposed to call this shadow architecture. 

To the south of the plot we designed a more modern extension that would overlook the newly-landscaped garden. We proposed a burnt orange and red palette of colours to echo the natural tones in the landscape. The design of this extension is influenced by the work of architect Craig Ellwood, an influential Los Angeles–based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Our design included the addition of timber to the ceiling and wall elevations, tiles to the interior and exterior floor surfaces and exposure of the timber roof beams and internal structure. To the southern elevation, we have included large-scale windows and sliding doors to create a glazed elevation that framed the dramatic views.

The work involved Architecture, Conservation, Master Planning, Landscaping, Architectural Interventions, Interior Architecture & Design.

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