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Join us for a guided tour of the @HackneySchoolofFood with architect Tom Surman of @SurmanWeston next Tuesday!

Located within the grounds of Mandeville Primary School, the School of Food project transformed a redundant caretaker’s house into a specialist food education centre for primary school children and the wider community.

In 2018, Surman Weston won an invited competition to help realise an ambitious vision for a purpose-built food education hub centred around teaching children how to cook fresh, healthy and delicious food from scratch.

The tour will explore the project’s inception and delivery, key architectural and landscape design moves, and the collaborative process behind the scheme. It will also reflect on the school’s ongoing social and educational impact, and how thoughtful design can support healthier, more connected communities.

The venue is fully accessible - get your tickets at the link in our bio!

📸: @surmanweston

#Hackney #Architecture #CommunityArchitecture #HackneySchoolOfFood

Join us for a guided tour of the @HackneySchoolofFood with architect Tom Surman of @SurmanWeston next Tuesday!

Located within the grounds of Mandeville Primary School, the School of Food project transformed a redundant caretaker’s house into a specialist food education centre for primary school children and the wider community.

In 2018, Surman Weston won an invited competition to help realise an ambitious vision for a purpose-built food education hub centred around teaching children how to cook fresh, healthy and delicious food from scratch.

The tour will explore the project’s inception and delivery, key architectural and landscape design moves, and the collaborative process behind the scheme. It will also reflect on the school’s ongoing social and educational impact, and how thoughtful design can support healthier, more connected communities.

The venue is fully accessible - get your tickets at the link in our bio!

📸: @surmanweston

#Hackney #Architecture #CommunityArchitecture #HackneySchoolOfFood

Join us for a guided tour of the @HackneySchoolofFood with architect Tom Surman of @SurmanWeston next Tuesday!

Located within the grounds of Mandeville Primary School, the School of Food project transformed a redundant caretaker’s house into a specialist food education centre for primary school children and the wider community.

In 2018, Surman Weston won an invited competition to help realise an ambitious vision for a purpose-built food education hub centred around teaching children how to cook fresh, healthy and delicious food from scratch.

The tour will explore the project’s inception and delivery, key architectural and landscape design moves, and the collaborative process behind the scheme. It will also reflect on the school’s ongoing social and educational impact, and how thoughtful design can support healthier, more connected communities.

The venue is fully accessible - get your tickets at the link in our bio!

📸: @surmanweston

#Hackney #Architecture #CommunityArchitecture #HackneySchoolOfFood

Another WIP image for a new-build house and accompanying outbuildings, which together will form a regenerative micro-holding. The buildings are arranged around a natural swimming pond, reinterpreting the traditional farmyard layout.

Some early stage work for a new build house on a challenging rural site. Situated on the outskirts of a small settlement and in close proximity to a river and accompanying flood plane, the project arranges a collection of buildings around a re-interpreted 'farmyard'. Referencing typical bird hides, synonymous with wetlands, the lightweight structures are raised off the ground on timber posts - mitigating flood risk, minimising groundworks and allowing the architecture to sit lightly on the ground.

Some early stage work for a new build house on a challenging rural site. Situated on the outskirts of a small settlement and in close proximity to a river and accompanying flood plane, the project arranges a collection of buildings around a re-interpreted 'farmyard'. Referencing typical bird hides, synonymous with wetlands, the lightweight structures are raised off the ground on timber posts - mitigating flood risk, minimising groundworks and allowing the architecture to sit lightly on the ground.

Some early stage work for a new build house on a challenging rural site. Situated on the outskirts of a small settlement and in close proximity to a river and accompanying flood plane, the project arranges a collection of buildings around a re-interpreted 'farmyard'. Referencing typical bird hides, synonymous with wetlands, the lightweight structures are raised off the ground on timber posts - mitigating flood risk, minimising groundworks and allowing the architecture to sit lightly on the ground.

Some early stage work for a new build house on a challenging rural site. Situated on the outskirts of a small settlement and in close proximity to a river and accompanying flood plane, the project arranges a collection of buildings around a re-interpreted 'farmyard'. Referencing typical bird hides, synonymous with wetlands, the lightweight structures are raised off the ground on timber posts - mitigating flood risk, minimising groundworks and allowing the architecture to sit lightly on the ground.

Some early stage work for a new build house on a challenging rural site. Situated on the outskirts of a small settlement and in close proximity to a river and accompanying flood plane, the project arranges a collection of buildings around a re-interpreted 'farmyard'. Referencing typical bird hides, synonymous with wetlands, the lightweight structures are raised off the ground on timber posts - mitigating flood risk, minimising groundworks and allowing the architecture to sit lightly on the ground.

Brief stop by Ironbridge after a site visit. World's first iron-cast bridge (1779) still looking damn fine today.

Some pics of a deep retrofit project completed last year. To reduce operational energy demand, the Victorian house was internally insulated with breathable wood fibre insulation and solar panels were added to the roof. The embodied carbon of the construction process was limited by reusing existing steels and specifying low-carbon natural materials throughout.

Thanks to @thestonemasonrycompany for the post-tensioned limestone beam and coping stones, to @magicprojectslondon (contractor) for being great to work with as ever, and to our lovely clients!

📸: Percy Weston
MEP: Peter Deer & Associates
SE: 99 Structural Engineers

Some pics of a deep retrofit project completed last year. To reduce operational energy demand, the Victorian house was internally insulated with breathable wood fibre insulation and solar panels were added to the roof. The embodied carbon of the construction process was limited by reusing existing steels and specifying low-carbon natural materials throughout.

Thanks to @thestonemasonrycompany for the post-tensioned limestone beam and coping stones, to @magicprojectslondon (contractor) for being great to work with as ever, and to our lovely clients!

📸: Percy Weston
MEP: Peter Deer & Associates
SE: 99 Structural Engineers

Some pics of a deep retrofit project completed last year. To reduce operational energy demand, the Victorian house was internally insulated with breathable wood fibre insulation and solar panels were added to the roof. The embodied carbon of the construction process was limited by reusing existing steels and specifying low-carbon natural materials throughout.

Thanks to @thestonemasonrycompany for the post-tensioned limestone beam and coping stones, to @magicprojectslondon (contractor) for being great to work with as ever, and to our lovely clients!

📸: Percy Weston
MEP: Peter Deer & Associates
SE: 99 Structural Engineers

Some pics of a deep retrofit project completed last year. To reduce operational energy demand, the Victorian house was internally insulated with breathable wood fibre insulation and solar panels were added to the roof. The embodied carbon of the construction process was limited by reusing existing steels and specifying low-carbon natural materials throughout.

Thanks to @thestonemasonrycompany for the post-tensioned limestone beam and coping stones, to @magicprojectslondon (contractor) for being great to work with as ever, and to our lovely clients!

📸: Percy Weston
MEP: Peter Deer & Associates
SE: 99 Structural Engineers

Some pics of a deep retrofit project completed last year. To reduce operational energy demand, the Victorian house was internally insulated with breathable wood fibre insulation and solar panels were added to the roof. The embodied carbon of the construction process was limited by reusing existing steels and specifying low-carbon natural materials throughout.

Thanks to @thestonemasonrycompany for the post-tensioned limestone beam and coping stones, to @magicprojectslondon (contractor) for being great to work with as ever, and to our lovely clients!

📸: Percy Weston
MEP: Peter Deer & Associates
SE: 99 Structural Engineers

We’re pleased to share that our director, Tom Surman, has been appointed to the Camden Design Review Panel.
The Panel brings together independent experts in architecture, landscape, urban design, environmental sustainability, inclusive design, and development delivery to help raise the quality of buildings and places across the borough.
Tom is looking forward to contributing Surman Weston’s experience in thoughtful, contextual and community-focused design to this important work.
#SurmanWeston #DesignReviewPanel #Camden #Architecture #UrbanDesign #inclusivedesign

We’ve just completed the design for this family garden that sits on a steep wooded slope within Dartmoor National Park.

Designed in collaboration with award-winning architects Surman Weston, whose new house is set carefully into the hillside responding to the contours, the garden is shaped by the terrain itself with a sequence of spaces that feel natural to its location in an AONB while also supporting family life.

The layout follows the land’s contours, using terraces and meadow bands to link the house with the wider valley. To the east, rainwater is held in a seasonal wetland, drawing in birds, frogs and dragonflies as part of a wider ecological strategy.

Planting is naturalistic and pollinator-rich, combining indigenous and naturalised species suited to Dartmoor’s evolving conditions.

As with much of our work, traditional craft anchors the design, with Devon drystone walls and local materials grounding the garden in its landscape.

Fire-resilient principles shape in response to the growing risk of wildfires across the moor.

We are working closely with both the architects and the head gardener to ensure the design feels connected, characterful and realistic to tend and care for. Construction to commence in the coming months.

Model and visuals @surmanweston
Architect @surmanweston
Landscape and garden design @harrisbuggstudio
Structural engineer @structure.workshop

We’ve just completed the design for this family garden that sits on a steep wooded slope within Dartmoor National Park.

Designed in collaboration with award-winning architects Surman Weston, whose new house is set carefully into the hillside responding to the contours, the garden is shaped by the terrain itself with a sequence of spaces that feel natural to its location in an AONB while also supporting family life.

The layout follows the land’s contours, using terraces and meadow bands to link the house with the wider valley. To the east, rainwater is held in a seasonal wetland, drawing in birds, frogs and dragonflies as part of a wider ecological strategy.

Planting is naturalistic and pollinator-rich, combining indigenous and naturalised species suited to Dartmoor’s evolving conditions.

As with much of our work, traditional craft anchors the design, with Devon drystone walls and local materials grounding the garden in its landscape.

Fire-resilient principles shape in response to the growing risk of wildfires across the moor.

We are working closely with both the architects and the head gardener to ensure the design feels connected, characterful and realistic to tend and care for. Construction to commence in the coming months.

Model and visuals @surmanweston
Architect @surmanweston
Landscape and garden design @harrisbuggstudio
Structural engineer @structure.workshop

We’ve just completed the design for this family garden that sits on a steep wooded slope within Dartmoor National Park.

Designed in collaboration with award-winning architects Surman Weston, whose new house is set carefully into the hillside responding to the contours, the garden is shaped by the terrain itself with a sequence of spaces that feel natural to its location in an AONB while also supporting family life.

The layout follows the land’s contours, using terraces and meadow bands to link the house with the wider valley. To the east, rainwater is held in a seasonal wetland, drawing in birds, frogs and dragonflies as part of a wider ecological strategy.

Planting is naturalistic and pollinator-rich, combining indigenous and naturalised species suited to Dartmoor’s evolving conditions.

As with much of our work, traditional craft anchors the design, with Devon drystone walls and local materials grounding the garden in its landscape.

Fire-resilient principles shape in response to the growing risk of wildfires across the moor.

We are working closely with both the architects and the head gardener to ensure the design feels connected, characterful and realistic to tend and care for. Construction to commence in the coming months.

Model and visuals @surmanweston
Architect @surmanweston
Landscape and garden design @harrisbuggstudio
Structural engineer @structure.workshop

We’ve just completed the design for this family garden that sits on a steep wooded slope within Dartmoor National Park.

Designed in collaboration with award-winning architects Surman Weston, whose new house is set carefully into the hillside responding to the contours, the garden is shaped by the terrain itself with a sequence of spaces that feel natural to its location in an AONB while also supporting family life.

The layout follows the land’s contours, using terraces and meadow bands to link the house with the wider valley. To the east, rainwater is held in a seasonal wetland, drawing in birds, frogs and dragonflies as part of a wider ecological strategy.

Planting is naturalistic and pollinator-rich, combining indigenous and naturalised species suited to Dartmoor’s evolving conditions.

As with much of our work, traditional craft anchors the design, with Devon drystone walls and local materials grounding the garden in its landscape.

Fire-resilient principles shape in response to the growing risk of wildfires across the moor.

We are working closely with both the architects and the head gardener to ensure the design feels connected, characterful and realistic to tend and care for. Construction to commence in the coming months.

Model and visuals @surmanweston
Architect @surmanweston
Landscape and garden design @harrisbuggstudio
Structural engineer @structure.workshop

View from the south garden into the central dining room, with the north terrace and wooded valley of Hollow Water beyond.

This new-build home is designed to embrace the effects of time and climate, quietly registering seasonal shifts. Douglas fir boards — milled from trees felled on site — add texture and warmth, anchoring the home to its place of origin. As the timber ages and weathers, the building’s presence will gradually soften, settling deeper into the surrounding landscape.

Utilising natural materials and low-energy construction methods wherever possible, the house is both sustainable and practical — a warm, long-lasting family home that reflects the character of Dartmoor without imitating it.

#architecture #dartmoor #devon #newbuildhome #timber #granite #naturalmaterials #landscape #biodiversity #sustainabledesign

A new-build home in Devon that emerges from the rugged terrain of its hillside setting.

At its base, granite walls draw on the character of local Devon banks: planted, boulder-lined boundaries that settle gently into the land and support biodiversity — rooting the building in Dartmoor’s local vernacular.

Above, waney-edge Douglas fir boards — milled from trees felled on site — add warmth and texture, rooting the house in its place of origin.

The shallow-pitched, copper-clad roofs take their cue from nearby agricultural buildings, echoing the rhythms of the surrounding rural landscape.

#architecture #dartmoor #devon #newbuildhome #timber #granite #naturalmaterials #landscape #biodiversity #sustainabledesign

View of the southern garden and entrance to Hollow Water - a home that is shaped by its setting. On the edge of Dartmoor National Park, the new-build house responds to the land’s natural contours, with a three-part form that steps and splays around the curvature of the hill.

The landscape, designed in collaboration with @harrisbuggstudio , features large granite boulders quarried and retained during early site excavations. A large menhir stone column supports the covered entrance - one of many subtle dialogues between the architecture and the terrain.

#architecture #dartmoor #devon #newbuildhome #timber #granite #naturalmaterials #landscape #biodiversity #sustainabledesign

Handmade models of our new-build house project in Devon. A planted Devon bank, built from granite excavated on-site, defines the base of the building. Above, a timber frame clad in Douglas fir, also felled on-site, forms the main structure. Construction begins later this year.

Handmade models of our new-build house project in Devon. A planted Devon bank, built from granite excavated on-site, defines the base of the building. Above, a timber frame clad in Douglas fir, also felled on-site, forms the main structure. Construction begins later this year.

Handmade models of our new-build house project in Devon. A planted Devon bank, built from granite excavated on-site, defines the base of the building. Above, a timber frame clad in Douglas fir, also felled on-site, forms the main structure. Construction begins later this year.

Handmade models of our new-build house project in Devon. A planted Devon bank, built from granite excavated on-site, defines the base of the building. Above, a timber frame clad in Douglas fir, also felled on-site, forms the main structure. Construction begins later this year.

Handmade models of our new-build house project in Devon. A planted Devon bank, built from granite excavated on-site, defines the base of the building. Above, a timber frame clad in Douglas fir, also felled on-site, forms the main structure. Construction begins later this year.