Puffin’s Cove: Cornwall Beach House
This luxury beach house takes its cues from the surrounding Cornish vernacular and materiality, with a contemporary twist. A slate-wrapped frontage opens up to views across the camel estuary with timber-lined balconies.
Puffins offers three-storeys of contemporary, coastal living. Enjoy breathtaking views of the estuary from the generous, south-facing garden, and stroll through the garden gate and down the lane to the golden sands of Daymer Bay.
. . . Latitude50 . . .
Project Info
- Location: Trebetherick, North Cornwall
- Cost: £800,000
- Collaborators: Accoya, Latitude50
- Image Credit: Latitude & Richard Chivers
Puffin’s Cove is available to rent at latitude50.co.uk
Environmental Data
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Energy Efficiency
1 2 3 4
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Insulation
1 2 3 4 5
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Thermal Mass
1 2 3
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Airtightness
1 2 3 4
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Solar PV
1
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Embodied Carbon
1 2 3 4 5 6
- Heating/Hot Water
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Solar Thermal
Yes No
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Rain Water Harvest
Yes No
- Ventilation
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Energy Storage
Yes No
Inspired by the humility and texture of the nearby fisherman’s buildings, Puffin’s Cove appears from first glance a modest two storey house. Clad in local Delabole slate and hunkered down in its site, the deliberately constrained street facade protects the privacy of the inhabitants within. The asymmetric pitched roof helps to ensure views from nearby homes are not compromised; however, this is a home containing a surprise.
Once you enter the house, the stunning view of Daymer Bay is dramatically revealed. At this luxury beach house, the main entrance is actually on the middle floor elevated above the garden below. The open plan living, dining and kitchen area has access to a timber decked terrace where outside living can properly be embraced. A TV room and den at basement level allow several activities to co-exist without compromise, essential in this holiday home which is available to rent through Latitude50, accommodating up to ten guests.
The stunning garden and views are a wonderful feature of this home where an outside shower, plenty of surfboard storage and a covered wetsuit hanging space ensure that the transition from beach to home does not become a chore.
We spend a great deal of time researching material provenance and often make use of traditional crafts and ancient materials on our buildings. Puffin’s Cove is a great example of how conventional building materials such as local slate, roughcast render, timber and lead can be brought together, creating a thoroughly modern design with an inherent feeling of timelessness.
This building, designed for the director of Accsys Technologies, was employed as a test bed for their Accoya timber product, an innovative, truly sustainable and natural pine wood with exceptional durability, finish and performance.
Accoya is an intelligent material; a fast growing softwood, modified through acetylation to produce a material that has the benefits of hardwood at a fraction of the environmental and monetary cost. The Accoya Color Grey is a new product to the UK and presents an even colour from the start and maintains this colour avoiding the uneven weathering associated with many timbers.
We question our clients, the site, the design, we question techniques, materials, and collaborators. By constantly questioning we are always learning and improving, pushing our designs forward to ensure we are at the forefront of our practice.
We believe that quality architecture adds value, both emotional and financial. Our architecture enhances your sense of well-being, the value of which is difficult to quantify in monetary terms. Our design skill, knowledge and tenacity also add financial value as the benefit of realising quality design increases the value of a site and maximises your investment.
Viewed from across Daymer Bay, Puffin’s Cove nestled into its setting in a quiet unassuming manner. Located just above the beach, it is hard to pick out without knowing it is there, the orientation and sculpting of the roof allowing it to exist subtly without shouting loudly.
