George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces: Shore Cottage Studio

WORDS George Clark and Jane Field-Lewis PHOTOS Richard Maxted

Most of us are familiar with the emotional pull of our family home, especially the one where we spent our formative years. For Laura Heath, her family home is somewhat extraordinary. It’s sited on a spectacular beach in the north of England, tucked beneath a cliff and in a landscape that can only be described as absolutely stunning, and, apart from a run of very steep steps up the cliff behind the house, it is in essence cut off by the tide twice a day. When the opportunity came up for her to move back there with her own family and build a studio, she jumped at it.

INSPIRATION STRIKES

Laura’s mother, Sue, is an artist and when she bought the property over 30 years ago with her late husband, John, it consisted of two run-down ramshackle cottages. Although it was a well-known local landmark, it was effectively a derelict wreck that had stood empty and exposed to the elements for the previous 30 years. It was a mess, with no ceilings, floors or power.

The family moved in and started the extensive renovation work, camping in the house while rebuilding it around them. Many years later, when Laura, Kris and their two children (with a third on the way) were packing up to leave Shore Cottage for the drive home, Laura told her mother that she didn’t want to go. Sue said, “Well, why don’t you just live here? It would be lovely.” The seed was planted and a little while later Laura was offered a severance package from her employer and the move back home had begun.

THE IDEA FOR THE STUDIO

Sue is a talented textile designer, and working when she had the house to herself wasn’t a problem, but with the whole family and grandchildren living there as well she couldn’t leave her work stuff lying around. Hence the idea for a separate purpose built studio was born. Laura and Kris decided to build a working studio for themselves and as a venue for running short art courses. The new space would not only have to work for them as individuals but also for groups who came to develop their artistic skills and learn new ones.

The courses would cover creative laser cutting, design stitch, photography and fused glass – a pooling of all of this talented family’s wide-ranging skills and crafts. They identified a space in the garden that could accommodate it, right next to the house. They wisely contacted the planning department; it became clear that they would require the services of a planning consultant who would be able to help deal with the coastal environmental agency and all other third-party groups concerned with the indigenous wildlife in the area. The planners advised that a bespoke studio would be looked upon more favourably than an off-the-shelf product.

THE BUILD

Based on their specific and detailed brief, Mike worked up a plan that met their needs and took full advantage of this very specific and unique location. The stringent requirements of the planning department meant that the local company hired to fabricate and build the studio had to plan with military precision. The studio was manufactured off-site, delivered and simply slotted together like a big 3D jigsaw on-site. The lorries were precisely loaded so that each piece was unloaded in the correct order for the build. All the wall panels exceeded current insulation requirements in order to maintain a comfortable temperature throughout the year. The floor and ceiling are made from the same panels, and the building stands on Jackpad foundations, constructed out of recycled plastic and steel, thereby avoiding the need for concrete.

As well as being better for the environment, this was a practical consideration as it would not have been possible to get a readymix concrete lorry down onto the beach, and the only other solution would have been to mix it on-site.

Given the location and the access restrictions dictated by the location and the tide, the planning requirements also deemed that the construction should cause only minimal disruption to the local wildlife and therefore all the deliveries had to be made in a single day. Consequently, they needed a co-ordinated crew including tractors, trailers, telehandlers and associated drivers, to manage the access at low tide across the sandy beach to the site.

At the end of Day Two of the build, the walls and windows were up. After ten days, electricity and water were in place. The large double-glazed windows were custom-made in non-standard sizes to garner the incredible light and the ever-changing scene right in front of them. The studio has a panoramic view of the estuary, which the family wanted to maximise.

INNOVATION AND PATRIMONY

As Laura sums it up, “This means everything to us. We could teach anywhere, of course, but working here is outstanding and inspirational. Having the studio allows us to be part of the view and the environment and it has helped us realise [the cottage’s] potential.

This is an excerpt from George Clarke’s More Amazing Spaces by George Clarke and Jane Field-Lewis (published by Quadrille Publishing, distributed by Pan Macmillan South Africa). For more information about the show, visit channel4.com. The book is available at all leading bookstores.