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Saule House
Saule House
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Other Projects by Hyde + Hyde Architects
Saule House
Saule House is a new family home on a sloping, woodland-bound site in North Somerset. Driven by the client’s close relationship and appreciation for the natural environment, Saule House provides seamless connections with and sensitive design response to its rural setting to celebrate the summer solstice rituals embedded within Latvian culture – a nod to the client’s heritage.
To engage with the site’s natural topography as much as possible, Hyde + Hyde Architects’ low-lying design repurposes an existing property's simple, rectangular footprint, which had fallen into disrepair. The new design is only spread across one storey, significantly reducing the property's visual impact on the open landscape.
The overhanging canopy wraps around the entire perimeter of the home, upheld by three triangular, concrete structural supports. Inspired by the flower crowns traditionally worn at solstice celebrations and offering a metaphorical nod to the supports as trees that root the home in its setting, the canopy provides a sense of unity. It also passively shades the home, shelters it from the rain and introduces a critical buffer zone between inside and out, creating an experience of shifting views as you move around the home.
Solid walls and screens layered over glazing where the house faces the street create a more private façade. Generous ceiling heights and room sizes throughout the interiors retain a distinct sense of spaciousness in the quieter sleeping and ancillary spaces. This balances the large expanse of glazing on the rear façade, which overlooks the garden and forest. The living spaces are intentionally located along this façade to encourage the client to spend time here, enjoy the elevated views, and benefit from the flow between internal and external spaces.
Along this southern façade, an external courtyard is carved into the ground floor plan, separating the main living space and study area and incorporating a natural pool. This contains one of two hearths in the home, anchoring the house onto the site. Complete with a corten-steel chimney and communal seating; the hearth represents the history of spiritual ancestors and the warmth of ‘gathering around the fire’. On the summer solstice each year, a bespoke bronze staff – crafted into one of the structural supports - casts a shadow onto the hearth as a reminder of a day of celebration and a symbolic marker of the Saulė, the Latvian word for sun and the home’s namesake.
To engage with the site’s natural topography as much as possible, Hyde + Hyde Architects’ low-lying design repurposes an existing property's simple, rectangular footprint, which had fallen into disrepair. The new design is only spread across one storey, significantly reducing the property's visual impact on the open landscape.
The overhanging canopy wraps around the entire perimeter of the home, upheld by three triangular, concrete structural supports. Inspired by the flower crowns traditionally worn at solstice celebrations and offering a metaphorical nod to the supports as trees that root the home in its setting, the canopy provides a sense of unity. It also passively shades the home, shelters it from the rain and introduces a critical buffer zone between inside and out, creating an experience of shifting views as you move around the home.
Solid walls and screens layered over glazing where the house faces the street create a more private façade. Generous ceiling heights and room sizes throughout the interiors retain a distinct sense of spaciousness in the quieter sleeping and ancillary spaces. This balances the large expanse of glazing on the rear façade, which overlooks the garden and forest. The living spaces are intentionally located along this façade to encourage the client to spend time here, enjoy the elevated views, and benefit from the flow between internal and external spaces.
Along this southern façade, an external courtyard is carved into the ground floor plan, separating the main living space and study area and incorporating a natural pool. This contains one of two hearths in the home, anchoring the house onto the site. Complete with a corten-steel chimney and communal seating; the hearth represents the history of spiritual ancestors and the warmth of ‘gathering around the fire’. On the summer solstice each year, a bespoke bronze staff – crafted into one of the structural supports - casts a shadow onto the hearth as a reminder of a day of celebration and a symbolic marker of the Saulė, the Latvian word for sun and the home’s namesake.
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