Hawthorn Hall, Wilmslow, Cheshire

Private Client

Hawthorn Hall is a Grade 2 Star listed manor house that dates from the 17th century; it is located within a Conservation Area. It was originally the centre of a farm estate; however, by the beginning of 20th century, much of the land had been sold off for housing and the Hall is now located within smaller grounds, nestled within a suburban setting. Hawthorn Hall is set centrally within an irregularly shaped site bounded by a mixture of detached and semi-detached dwellings to the north, south and west; on the eastern is a private road - Hall Road. The house and its surrounding grounds are hidden from public view by large mature trees, bushes and boundary walls. The gated site entrance is from Hall Road and the approach to the house is via a sweeping path which offers glimpses of the house across lawns, low-level walls and soft planting.

The original brief evolved from the client’s requirement to improve the capacity to store an increasing personal car collection. Initial studies reviewed amendments to the existing garage structure to accommodate this. The result of these initial studies concluded amendments to the existing garage could not practically accommodate the increased car storage requirements.

During this initial review a new brief emerged which sought to provide increased car storage, a new leisure suite and an improved open-plan family and kitchen space that could make better use of an existing rear courtyard during the summer months. This new brief offered the opportunity to remove an unloved and unsympathetic addition to the hall that was inherited by the client.

The layout of the proposed extension emerged from a thorough examination of the site, developing an understanding of the existing building and its setting and a detailed dialogue with the client

The existing hall’s linear plan is fundamentally symmetrical consisting of a series of cellular spaces. The existing extension connects via a link corridor and forms an L-shaped plan housing the garage space to the North and living and plant space within the southern leg.

The new layout is also a clear expression of the building’s function, more so than the existing extension. The plan is legible, with each function clearly defined and expressed. The new circulation clearly divides the garage space on the north and the living spaces to the south. The living spaces are open plan and they look onto an external courtyard which is enclosed and orientated to receive a good solar outlook throughout the majority of the day. The northern courtyard and entry sequence functions have been retained as the day-to-day entrance to the Hall and provide routes left to the original hall and right into the new accommodation whilst offering direct views into the southern courtyard. The garage is accessed from the drive and contains four mechanical car lifts that enable the space directly underneath at the basement level to be utilised for the additional storage of motor vehicles; eight cars in total. The remaining basement accommodation contains a swimming pool, gym and other fitness facilities. The basement footprint is slightly larger than the ground floor accommodation allowing for the inclusion of rooflights at ground floor level enabling natural light to enter the basement.

The form of the extension emerged as two distinct and identifiable blocks for the garage and the living accommodation with a clear visual separation between the new intervention and the listed building, allowing the Hall to be read as an individual mass. The two new blocks are linked by a clear glazed linking corridor which ties the Hall and the additional accommodation together visually. The simplicity of the extension is an appropriate contemporary response to the Hall, creating well-detailed simple forms that don’t visually compete with the more complex and highly decorative Hall.