Winchelsea Beach, East Sussex, United Kingdom, within the Rye Nature Reserve Site of Special Scientific Interest
About this story
RX Architects returned to Druim, a timber-clad coastal residence created by remodelling a partially built house, to add a single-storey garden-facing extension and connect the main building to its detached studio annex. The addition expands the dining area beside the existing kitchen and uses full-height glazing and sliding doors to open onto the patio and private rear garden. A timber-lined ceiling continues through deep external soffits, visually carrying the larch language of the existing house indoors and creating a sheltered setting around a corner window seat. The dining room is arranged around a large timber table, rooflight and wood-burning stove. The wider intervention introduces a new boot room and entrance hall, redirects access to the staircase and uses a glazed linking corridor in place of the former outdoor path to the annex. The link frames views through the property, forms a courtyard and helps buffer the garden from coastal winds. Studio director Rob Pollard provided the design commentary reported by Dezeen. RX Architects' project social post credits Myriad Construction Ltd with the build, Chartwood Design Ltd with joinery, Ideal Work with flooring, KEIM with the painted brick finish and Richard Chivers with photography. Published sources conflict slightly on the original house's date: Myriad and ArchDaily identify it as a 2019 project, while Dezeen describes completion in 2020.
Status and timeline
Built. Planning permission for the rear extension, covered link and balcony extension was issued on 2024-07-23. The new owners commissioned the adaptation in 2025; RX Architects publicly showed the completed-looking project on 2026-06-03, and Dezeen published its report on 2026-09-21. No precise construction-completion date was found.
Design highlights
Material and visual continuity between old and new; larch cladding carried from exterior soffits into the dining-room ceiling; full-height glazing for garden immersion; deep overhangs and a glazed link used as protection from coastal winds; a framed courtyard between the main house and annex; and circulation changes that redirect the living room toward sea and nature-reserve views.
