Project name: House for a Photographer | Location: Pontypridd, South Wales | Completed: 2014 | Architects: Hyde + Hyde Architects
Resembling an old fashioned box camera, House for a Photographer peers out boldly from a reclaimed quarry on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales. Light, as you'd expect, is a key feature of this remarkable project.
House for a Photographer is, it turns out, bold in every way. Cardiff-based Hyde + Hyde Architects have cantilevered this extraordinary home out over its site, a single pillar appearing to hold the building up over the car port and entry point beneath.
A main double volume living area lies above, spectacularly set behind the wall to wall, floor to ceiling frontal glazing which takes in the vista this home commands. A simple ladder leads to an upper library level. Indeed, simplicity - albeit achieved through complex engineering - is crucial to the success of this one-off design.
Despite all that glass, the property's true genius lies in its quiet privacy. The four bedrooms are above and to the rear of the living space, each with a view into the trees that surround the property. There are secret spaces, too. A photographic dark room is squirrelled away within and there are terraces tucked into the design for private contemplation.
The house is designed to become part of its surroundings. The steel panels that form the facade have already acquired surface rust, as they weather to become part of the natural landscape. Beyond the main building, a bravura series of steel bridges ends in an outdoor sanctuary carved into sandstone and featuring a fire pit.
Picture perfect? This House for a Photographer is very much ready for its close-up.
Like this? Here's another minimalist home with a view.
