Benjamin Wells - Hearth House

Surrey, England

Nestled in the Surrey Hills, Hearth House is the extensive retrofit of a 1950s country house. A number of sporadic and disjointed extensions have been upgraded and stitched back into the original two-storey house, through the introduction of a new timber framed hall. This dining hall connects to the existing building around a central hearth - reinstated but mirrored to face the new room - to become the heart of the family home. The hall’s timber structure frames views of the surrounding gardens and the pastoral farmland beyond.

The plan is organised as a set of offset rooms set around the central hearth, and the new timber hall opens up the knuckle between the original two-storey house and the one-storey extension to the North. The house steps down to meet the garden at various levels, allowing each room to have an intimate connection to the surrounding landscape. Private spaces are pushed to the edges of the plan, while the central kitchen and dining room become the stage for daily family life.

Welsh-grown Douglas Fir is used for the new structure, composed of two grids that pinwheel around a turned circular column. Timber offcuts are used in bespoke joinery throughout the house, with benches, wardrobes and shelving animating the spaces. The entire building is highly insulated, drastically reducing its heating demands, and rendered externally with a combination of smooth and roughcast finishes. This brings together new and old into a consistent, but layered, composition.

Winner at the AJ Retrofit and Reuse Awards 2025