Issue 46 April 25 web - Flipbook - Page 64
Malvern Pool House
A sensory oasis in the Warwickshire hills, by Klas Hyllén Architecture
Malvern Pool House by Klas Hyllén Architecture is a
visually stunning companion to an Arts & Crafts inspired
home, perched on a hilltop in rural Warwickshire. The
new addition comprises two interconnecting volumes of
clay brick, minimal in appearance, yet materially rich and
exquisitely detailed. Sweeping views across the Malvern
Hills are balanced with a vast, light-filled volume with a
cathedral-like diagrid ceiling that appears to float above
the swimming pool.
A nine-metre-long skylight floods the space with more
daylight, or on a clear night is spliced with starlight. A
natural mineral scent, a result of the water’s interplay with
the clay brick, fills the air. The ancillary building houses
necessary showers and dressing rooms, and connects to
the main house, while protecting a courtyard to the north.
Malvern Pool House invites relaxation and rejuvenation.
It is a sensory oasis of light and water, an exquisite retreat
from the world, while retaining a dialogue with the land,
and its deer, geese and hares that inhabit the surrounding
fields.
Two volumes connect with landscape
The primary oblong (63m2) is all about the elements and
is angled specifically to best connect with the landscape.
It houses the 1.4m deep pool whose water extends to the
perimeter walls and a vast south-facing window, to
seamlessly flows into the view. The white-washed diagrid
glue-laminated ceiling adds an effortless, calming,
monastic quality.
The secondary volume (38m2) strengthens and shelters
a rectilinear farm courtyard to the north, a space now
defined thanks to the careful design of the new buildings.
It is a simple mono-pitch volume, housing ancillary
functions such as showers, changing rooms and a small
separate meditation area, connected to the main house
through a new timber fin glazed link.
