The site for this cottage is a steeply sloping wooded copse on the edge of Cunsey village on the shores of Lake Windermere. The proposal is a replacement for an existing dwelling on the site. Planning restrictions in the Lake District National Park necessitated the small footprint of the house, although it is considerably larger than its predeccessor (called simply Argent Close) on the site, occupying a site on three levels. The small residence is environmentally conscious but luxurious, and above all very beautiful. Influences ranged from the film ‘The Ice Storm” to Japanese traditional architecture, to the Bat Cave. The house stands on innovative ‘mini-piles’, small-diameter steel rods driven into the ground without impacting on the site’s tree roots, protected since 2005 by a Tree Preservation Order. The structure uses the SIPs (structural insulated panels) system of wood-clad heavily-insulated boards that can be quickly assembled and have unparallelled insulation qualities. It is clad with local timber grown which is processed on the neighbouring Graythwaite Estate, meaning an extremely small carbon footprint from source to use. The windows are south-facing and the main heating is provided by a woodburning stove, and the flat roof is left to become colonised with moss, ferns and grasses.This timber is also used in outdoor landscaping. Interior timber is mainly reclaimed local cedar.