When does a house become a home? Sounds like the start of a terrible joke, but the act of transforming a building into a home is at the core of residential architecture, and I believe the fundamental idea of home is love, and love to me is something worth protecting.

The core concepts of the re-design of Oakhurst Cottages are from the reaction to help. The state of vulnerability of the building and site sat uneasily with me, I wanted to intervene and help the building return to being a family home and prevent the prospect of ruination from happening again.

By analysing what has impacted the building and then looking in turn at how these ‘mark makers’ defend themselves, I believe I have created a unique country home which could successfully protect its new residents from any sort of Natural, Environmental or Man-made attack.

Despite the sensitive requirements of the building, the needs of the client must take precedence. Mrs Rivers's access requirements around her new home are the focus of the interior architecture and only echo the need to design a home which can protect its occupants. Whilst the building itself may resemble a castle or a similar fortified structure; the objective of the project was to design a home. The building needed to defend like a castle, whilst being as cosy and inviting as a Derbyshire cottage.

The live-work aspect of home life is something everyone has recently adjusted to during the pandemic. Creating space which can allow the occupiers to remove themselves from the stress of work and relax is an idea at the forefront of the spatial planning of the house.

In modern design language, a Villa refers to a large and luxurious country house on its own grounds and conjures up imagery of Mediterranean holiday homes. However, the term Villa can be traced back to the Romans, who used the word to describe a large country estate of residential buildings arranged around a courtyard.

Tutela was the ancient Roman concept of “guardianship”, and during the Imperial period was also considered a goddess. Guardianship is recognised as the position of protecting or defending something.

A house is a building where people live, a home is a place where you live.