Connecting with
the landscape

We were approached to develop a concept for a new farm-to-fork restaurant, with beautiful rooms and extensive gardens, nestled into the quiet idyll of the South Downs. Surrounded by ancient woodland, meandering streams and rolling downland, this was a unique opportunity, and we and our client have unfettered ambition to make something very special in this underserved western corner of the South Downs National Park.

Accordingly, careful and considered masterplanning was required, as was a sensitive landscape-led approach to the design, ensuring new contemporary structures and configurations would sit as lightly as possible into this rural setting. To accomplish this, the overall layout is reminiscent of local traditional farmsteads and barns, with a hierarchy of building sizes and forms, positioned to minimise their impact. The material palette is one of timber, flint and clay tiles, quietly mirroring the local built environment.

At the heart of the scheme is an existing 18th Century building, once a pub, that will be restored and refurbished as a bistro. Outwardly unchanged, it will sit as an anchoring reminder of the heritage of the site, as well as a welcoming space for the local community and visitors from further afield.

In addition to the Bistro, the concept also includes the restaurant, kitchens, lodge with reception and courtyard leading to sixteen guest rooms, staff quarters, parking, and extensive landscaping. From the road, little will seem to have changed, as the greater part of the scheme will be situated behind and downhill of the existing building.

Sustainability runs through this project, informing each decision and detail. Energy-efficient building techniques, choice of materials, water-saving measures, renewable technologies and more, are integrated into every stage.

The client’s aim is to achieve a Michelin Green Star for the restaurant, and the proposed scheme supports this ambition, with appropriate and extensive facilities for immediately local ingredients, a considerable addition to an existing kitchen garden, and specialist spaces for fermenting, preserving and more.

Driveways, paths and parking areas have been repositioned to minimise their visibility. Hedgerows will be reintroduced to create smaller pockets and spaces. Local biodiversity will inform how gardens are extended and fields will be left undisturbed for local wildlife to flourish.

The intention is to create somewhere guests can immerse themselves in the restorative calm of the location, where wild meets order in the West Sussex countryside. Views to the gardens and landscape beyond are optimised, from large floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors in the restaurant, to the positioning of windows in guest bedrooms. External lighting is low level to minimise disturbance of the night sky.

Once completed, this proposal will demonstrate how a commercial enterprise can celebrate modernity and innovation, while also creating genuine and strong connections to the surrounding natural landscape.