Perched on a rise overlooking the Glaven Valley, Hammer Hill was built in the 1970s as a retirement home for the former owner of Old Rectory Farm. Sharing its neighbour's outlook but not its coherence, the house stood as a condensed echo of the larger farmstead - its promise of light and landscape undermined by awkward circulation, dim interiors and a lack of connection to the garden and views beyond. 

Our approach has been to completely reconfigure the plan, using the existing structure as much as possible to emphasise greater flow, accessibility, and connection to the countryside. The ground floor has been opened up and re-centred around an enlarged kitchen, conceived as the social heart of the house. The stair has been rebuilt and the landings reduced to allow light down from the upper floor, transforming the vertical movement through the building and sight lines through it. Each principal room now opens directly to the west and the flanking veranda, drawing the landscape inward and giving the house a clear rhythm from arrival to sleep.

Total Timber

The project's construction embodies a philosophy of total timber. All new elements are formed from locally sourced wood, insulated with wood fibre, clad in cedar shingles and finished internally with lime plaster. The result is a breathable, low-carbon envelope that tempers Norfolk's climate and fills the interiors with a sense of natural warmth and calm.

Two new extensions complete the transformation. The larger, linking the main house to the smaller "barn room", introduces two bedrooms and a shower room, while a smaller northern wing marks the entrance with a new hall and bathroom above. Both are conceived as mono-pitched timber structures, continuing the rooflines of the existing buildings with a quiet precision.