Featured
The Edge, Cumbria (UK)
Reference details
- Location United Kingdom
- Architects NORTHMILL ASSOCIATES
- Technique(s) VMZINC Standing seam
- Aspect(s) PIGMENTO Red
- Application Type Facade, Roofing
- Contractor(s) Lindas Group Ltd
- Copyright VMZINC
Bordered to the west by the Irish Sea and to the north by Scotland, Cumbria is both the largest and least populated county in England. This helps to preserve the magnificent landscapes that attract so many visitors.
With access to the sea between two cliffs, the picturesque port of Whitehaven is just a few miles from the Five Lakes Nature Park. Whitehaven itself is a fishing village with a few houses, dominated by a small castle.
Integrating an activity centre into this picturepostcard site seemed impossible. Yet this was the request made to Manchester-based Chartered Architects Northmill Associates.
The plan was to build a mixed-use complex including a café, toilets, a sailing centre and around ten hotel rooms. Bringing together these disparate elements with such opposing needs under the same roof was a second challenge. Would the architects throw in the towel or pick up the gauntlet?
After reflection they decided not to construct a building, but instead... a rock, without falling into the trap of mimicry or camouflage.
Their rock does not form a grey mass with rounded contours. Instead, it takes on the appearance of a rhombohedral volume with each facet clearly demarcated by zinc edges.
Depending on the position of the observer, this human rock appears long or short, blind or pierced with windows, a bit like a troglodytic dwelling.
Notions of roofs or façades are irrelevant. The pebble seems to have broken away from the neighbouring wall, or looks like a ship that has run aground if you look at its metal skin and the sharp angles of its ends.
The PIGMENTO® red colour echoes the local granite rocks. Facing the sea, its patina provides welcome protection from the marine climate, which is rarely kind to architecture.
With access to the sea between two cliffs, the picturesque port of Whitehaven is just a few miles from the Five Lakes Nature Park. Whitehaven itself is a fishing village with a few houses, dominated by a small castle.
Integrating an activity centre into this picturepostcard site seemed impossible. Yet this was the request made to Manchester-based Chartered Architects Northmill Associates.
The plan was to build a mixed-use complex including a café, toilets, a sailing centre and around ten hotel rooms. Bringing together these disparate elements with such opposing needs under the same roof was a second challenge. Would the architects throw in the towel or pick up the gauntlet?
After reflection they decided not to construct a building, but instead... a rock, without falling into the trap of mimicry or camouflage.
Their rock does not form a grey mass with rounded contours. Instead, it takes on the appearance of a rhombohedral volume with each facet clearly demarcated by zinc edges.
Depending on the position of the observer, this human rock appears long or short, blind or pierced with windows, a bit like a troglodytic dwelling.
Notions of roofs or façades are irrelevant. The pebble seems to have broken away from the neighbouring wall, or looks like a ship that has run aground if you look at its metal skin and the sharp angles of its ends.
The PIGMENTO® red colour echoes the local granite rocks. Facing the sea, its patina provides welcome protection from the marine climate, which is rarely kind to architecture.
