A Natural Resilience – Swansong by Sam Cox and Lisa Hatfield
Regenerative and robust, Swansong sits lightly among its naturally abundant surrounds, providing a warming sense of protection from the elements once inside. As its owners and designers, Sam Cox and Lisa Hatfield combine a desire to live intimately within the native landscape with a passion for eco-friendly living.
Conceived through a contemporary lens, Swansong is imagined as a measured means to transform what was previously a beloved camping spot into a more permanent shelter. Having loved the site for some time, the owners’ move to create a lasting structure to engage with the landscape was inevitable, and one that allowed their love of place to become expressed through built form. Designed by Sam Cox and Lisa Hatfield, the resulting form becomes an evolution of the more traditional and rural sighting of the familiar corrugated structures among such landscapes. Elevating the traditional features of these buildings, the interior is carefully crafted with considered detailing and a naturally textured approach.
Swansong sits with ease, surrounded by a delicate weaving of old and new landscape elements. Partly regenerating the damaged site in response to the built elements, an approach of giving back was introduced. The resulting plantings aim to soften the harder lines of the imposed site and offer a connection and balance between the two contrasting domains. With a deliberately passive approach, the proposal combines a hardened and protective outer shell with a more welcoming embrace of warm honey-coloured timbers.
Formed by two separate pavilions, a platform bridge connects the areas of the home, allowing an engagement with the surrounds whilst passing between them. On either side of the bridge sits two outdoor landscaped areas – on one side sits a green courtyard space and the other side marks the original camping spot that sparked the initial idea to build. Wanting it to seem as though the form is floating, the two distinct volumes are surrounded by a steel platform accessway that takes inspiration from a traditional Japanese-style Engawa, which connects the natural and the built. Optimising orientation across the site, double height glazing to the north and east, and the creation of protected outdoor spaces, allows a natural capture of solar gains throughout the year.
Swansong sits with ease, surrounded by a delicate weaving of old and new landscape elements.
As an investment in place, Swansong combines a heightening of the traditional rural shelter typology with innovation and passive energy capture. Sam Cox and Lisa Hatfield impart a unique response to site, ensuring that, through its enduring nature, the structure will remain for many years yet.
