Bat House

Studland, Dorset, UK

A holiday home with a bat legacy: nestled in the charming Studland peninsula, in a street of post-war English houses, stands a detached two-storey house. Located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the brief was for a full refurbishment and extension of a second family home. With a number of protected species on the doorstep the Bat House was born: the works had to safely accommodate the Soprano Pipistrelle and Grey Long Eared Bats, suspected of nestling in the existing roof.

The outcome was a play on the theme: a series of timber structures referencing the marine and wooded surroundings with a butterfly-roof front two-storey extension, a slanted rear extension and a summer house at the rear of the site within a landscaping scheme paying heed to the local bio-diversity of Purbeck Heath. A marine holiday home transformed with a bat smile.

Project carried out while at dust architecture.