Pen-Y-Lan

Pen-Y-Lan | Cardiff, Wales | 2022
[Benjamin Hale Architects]

Benjamin Hale designs homes of timelessness and permanence that originate out of a detailed understanding of modern living.

This new project to the rear of a Victorian home for the owner of a Welsh clothing label creates a minimal, unified space for cooking, living and dining. A new modest extension along the side return provides a new space for preparing food and an opening made in the existing wall connects the kitchen to a new larger dining space unlocking what was previously a problematic configuration of rooms.

An emphasis was placed on reconnecting the internal spaces to the garden in a variety of ways. A new picture window is inserted, puncturing an existing wall on the return frames views of the garden while the addition of bespoke timber folding doors to an existing lean to allows blurs the lines between inside and out.

Benjamin Hale’s attentiveness to material, light and proportion are evident throughout. Careful consideration has been given to the material and height transition between spaces. Timber, render, brick and Italian terrazzo echo the past but create a new language helping to define spaces and activities. Combined with carefully designed joinery, which includes a hidden door and pantry designed in collaboration with a carpenter and metalworker.

A series of fins sitting beneath a large rooflight wash the walls with dappled light providing a constantly changing atmosphere to the kitchen below. The new space is calming and considered. This is achieved through a process of rigorous design and testing and is evident in the final product.