Industrial Robustness – Gantry House by OOF! zrchitecture

Combining elements of home, warehouse and workshop, Gantry House emerges as a robust and familiar residence for its growing family of young boys. OOF! architecture expands on the existing footprint of a weatherboard home, allowing for a generous and welcoming series of volumes to bring the family together.

Located in Newport, Gantry House feels familiar for many reasons yet definitively unique in others. While its traditional cottage silhouette is maintained and extruded to the rear, the exposed framework of the addition is expressive and sculptural, mimicking that of an industrial space. Home to a builder, dietician, three boys and two dogs, the extension needed to accommodate an expansion while still feeling connected and reminiscent of the original home. By creating a typology of its own, the resulting home combines the warmth of a home together with a low maintenance robustness of a warehouse and workshop space. OOF! architecture draws focus on creating a home that suits its owners as the ultimate priority.

The intentional exposing of fixings and fixtures reinforces the building’s strength and suitability to a growing family, while also adding an unusual decorative element to the family home.

Constructed by Complete Builders Insight, Gantry House was built by many hands – with numerous trades, friends and family who contributed in their own way. The intentional exposing of fixings and fixtures reinforces the building’s strength and suitability to a growing family, while also adding an unusual decorative element to the family home.  Increasing flow and connections between inside and out remained a key priority, allowing the landscaped areas to act as outdoor rooms of their own and creating an ease of movement across thresholds. With the whole construction process completed over two years, elements were able to be refined over that period without being under time pressure.

As a place to live together but also independently, flexibility was key. The additional areas allow for an opening up and closing down as needed, while still retaining a feeling of being connected. The existing formality of the cottage was opened up to allow for a more generous sensibility inside, emphasised even more so through the open roof structure of exposed roof truss system. The optimising of the north orientation allows for climatic passive comfort all year round, while giving access to natural light and allowing for ventilation to maintain the temperature of the home. Similar conscious decisions resulted in the use of reverse brick veneer, using recycled red bricks, hydronic heating system, double glazing and water reuse systems.

Increasing flow and connections between inside and out remained a key priority, allowing the landscaped areas to act as outdoor rooms of their own and creating an ease of movement across thresholds.

By paving its own path, Gantry House forms the foundations for life’s rituals to occur without maintenance. OOF! architecture proposes a home of lasting resonance for the unique needs of its family over time.