Design Buy Build Issue 44 2020 | Page 34

THE LONG HOUSE NEIL CHOUDHURY ARCHITECTS The Long House is a two-storey, new-build dwelling in Somerton, Somerset, designed by Neil Choudhury Architects. The 350 square-metre project is built into a steeply sloping site and overlooks a pond, mill stream and garden designed by James Alexander Sinclair. Conceived as a liberal reinterpretation of local long houses, the plan measures six-metres wide by 40-metres long with a traditional flat gable end. A contemporary tweak is that the plan is cranked around the central entrance hall and stairwell. All habitable rooms face the garden to the south. 34 The west wing is the social heart of the house, with the kitchen, dining and sitting room located on the upper floor, and arranged in a linear sequence leading to an elevated panoramic view of the garden. The east wing contains the master bedroom suite enfilade. This is arranged in order of privacy: snug, master bedroom, master bathroom and dressing rooms. The lower floor accommodates guest accommodation, workrooms, a study, boot room, cellar, pantry and other ancillary spaces.