Stolon Studio were commissioned to design a family home for £250,000 in a former quarry, in Herefordshire countryside. The site was part of the client’s heritage and they feel a deep connection with the land. Stolon were appointed to take a fresh approach after estimated costs for the previous architect’s scheme were far in excess of the budget. The clients brief was simple – a 200 sqm three-bedroom house, that ‘looked like a house’, was economic, easy to maintain, and on budget. Having moved into a caravan, they also wanted it built quickly. The client would not compromise on the size and therefore, taking inspiration from rural vernacular, the solution was a modern barn/house. This was formed using a pre-insulated, pre-fabricated, timber-framed shell, clad in agricultural profiled-steel, and larch, embraced by an amphitheatrical landscape. The planners quickly consented the revised design, commenting that it offered an elegant, understated proposal, enhancing the landscape. To manage the budget, Stolon applied a standard grid and full height walls at the eaves to avoid complicated details. A single break from the grid was reserved for the portal-frame façade, angled towards the defiant, unquarried rock. This created a triangular balcony at 1st floor and sheltered veranda, perfectly angled to provide optimum shade from the midday sun. Cost-effective small but numerous windows were inserted (apparently randomly) along the black steel-clad facades to carefully frame views. The entrance hall is set within a double-height space, open to the roof. A blackened-timber screen conceals a door through to the open-plan ground floor. The children’s bedroom features a 4m climbing wall to the ridge. The master bedroom has panoramic views over countryside. The trust the client had in Stolon was rewarded with a clever and architectural home delivered for a modest budget and taking 9 months to construct. The project won three RIBA Prizes: RIBA Award 2019, RIBA Small Project of the Year and RIBA Emerging Architect of the Year 2019 for the West Midlands Region.