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The original 200-year-old Listed property consisted of a historic Thatched Cottage (formed by amalgamation of three former worker’s cottages with three staircases which had been unsympathetically extended in the 1980s) and a separate detached Pool House built slightly earlier. The idea was to resolve the physical circulation problems within the Cottage and improve its connectivity with the existing Pool House and wider rural context by demolishing the existing extensions and replacing them with a new modern addition set away from the Cottage to be read as an independent element. This idea evolved into the concept of a futuristic ‘spaceship pod’ that has landed in the back garden to make a clear delineation between new and old and to articulate the development of the property over time.
The new extension ‘pod’ is a purely private residential space set within the enclosed back garden of the existing property on the edge of the village and is virtually invisible from the public realm. It has been set back from, and is connected to, the original Cottage with a structural glazed link to restore the original Cottage’s historic integrity and is angled on plan to visually connect it through the opened-up Pool House to the wider rural landscape and the River Cam beyond. The intension is for the new extension to visually ‘disappear’ into its context and visually blur the boundaries between new and old when viewed externally whilst also reflecting the historic structure when viewed from within the Cottage.
Metal cladding was chosen for the extension ‘pod’ to contrast with the thatch and render used on the historic Cottage to convey the idea of a futuristic faceted ‘diamond’ with visually seamless as possible junctures between transparent and opaque elements (similar to a highly engineered car or aeroplane) with minimal gaps between glass and cladding. One way to achieve this was to have mirror reflective flush glazing and mirror reflective cladding which led to the choice of ACM panels due to their large format panel sizes (that help to reduce the number of joints required) that have a high degree of torsional stability which can produce a highly reflective surface and can be secretly fixed. The reflective ACM panels also come with a long-life guarantee and require minimal maintenance.
The historic property’s thermal performance has been improved by removal of the old oil-fired boiler with an energy efficient gas replacement, and installation of underfloor insulation and heating. The new extension ‘pod’ is constructed from recyclable materials of steel and aluminium and is wrapped in highly thermally efficient insulation. Mirror reflective cladding and glazing film provide solar control to assist with summer cooling. The main sustainability achievement has been to secure the viable future of the existing historic Cottage by allowing it to be adapted for 21st century living.
The project was shortlisted for the Façade Awards UK 2023, Greater Cambridge Design & Construction Awards 2025, RIBA East Awards 2025 and was published in The Wall Street Journal on 25 July 2025.
This residential project involves the remodelling and extension of a Listed historic thatched Cottage in a semi-rural village Conservation Area setting on the edge of the City of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. It succeeds by creating a more practical and energy efficient home fit for 21st century living from what was a dated and impractical property through rationalising the internal circulation and accommodation and improving the connectivity between the historic Cottage and the separate Pool House, Garden and wider rural river setting. Architecturally the new extension succeeds in simultaneously improving the living environment of the whole property while enhancing the historic charm and restoring the integrity of the original 18th century Cottage. The striking design of the new extension ‘pod’, through its sleek angular form, juxtaposition of materials and detailing introduces a bold, futuristic, unequivocally contemporary insertion, simultaneously merging with and reflecting the property’s historic vernacular context whilst creating a fluid dialogue between tradition and modernity. The defining characteristic of the project is in the celebration of the property’s architectural evolution, respecting and enhancing the past, embracing the present and providing a view to the future.
Mart Barrass Architect (Ltd.) is a RIBA Chartered Architectural practice based in Cambridge, United Kingdom working on mainly individual properties of differing ages, styles and sizes.
The Practice was founded in 2010 by founder and director Mart Barrass and has worked on a number of Listed properties and properties within Conservation Areas successfully introducing contemporary modern designs into historic contexts.
Mart Barrass studied at the Oxford School of Architecture in the United Kingdom and the Washington Alexandria Architecture Consortium in Washington D.C. and represented the United Kingdom in the Department of Space Architecture at the International Space University in 1993 hosted by The University of Alabama and NASA's Marshal Space Flight Centre working on a proposed International Observatory and Science Station on the far side of the Moon.
