Building on the idea of a machine in a garden, Poolhouse is a pavilion standing steadfast and compact in the grounds of an existing house, at once countering and deferring to the surrounding landscape. Its clean and simple form – borrowing cues from Queen Victoria’s bathing machine, the vernacular barn and the railway carriage – is clad in cedar, roofed in copper and punctuated by a series of carefully placed windows to either frame views or provide glimpses of the inside. Modular in image as well as in structure, its tightly-planned, split-level arrangement means that both an indoor swimming pool and guest living accommodation are contained within a single linear volume.
Awards
- 1996 RIBA Award for Architecture
