Skip to content

James Gorst Architects

  • Home
  • Projects
    • Projects
  • Practice
    • Profile
    • People
    • Contact
  • Projects
Close

Whithurst Lodge

With Whithurst Lodge in West Sussex James Gorst Architects were presented with a site open to a meadow, forming part of a larger country estate. Rather than positioning the house out in the open, Gorst decided to push the house towards the tree line, offering a gentle backdrop of woodland as well as views out across the grassland. The projects takes inspiration from the vernacular form of the barn, reinforced by the use of locally sourced oak for the cladding on the upper level, while a smaller structure alongside offers an ‘echo’ of the principal building and provides garaging and storage.

The middle bay of the concrete framed house is indented on the ground floor to create a semi-sheltered verandah. Upstairs, windows are placed at irregular intervals within the timber cladding. The entire house, including its zinc roof, is effectively split in two by an incision that includes a long skylight situated above the central stairwell that draws sunlight deep into the building.

Inside the house the central staircase helps to define and order the living spaces. The inter-connected dining area, study and seating area sit in three corners of the home, with the main seating area focussed upon a bespoke fireplace. The fourth corner holds the kitchen plus a more enclosed pantry, while additional services are contained in an outrigger to the rear.

“The Lodge has become a rather famous modern house gaining iconic status... the house has been a delight to us and to our friends ever since. We recommend James Gorst Architects to you unreservedly.”

Richard Taylor, Client
CG 035
Text

James Gorst’s work has helped to heal one of the most unnecessary and painful wounds in contemporary British architecture: between the traditionalists and the modernists. Like Louis Kahn in the United States or Peter Zumthor in Switzerland, Gorst reminds us that modernism can be beautifully reconciled with the underlying principles of classicism and that modern materials and idioms can carry all the elegance, dignity and grandeur associated with historical masterpieces.

Alain de Botton

© 2023 James Gorst Architects. All rights reserved.

Design: Tom Green Design. Build: Designagogo.