The Retreat at Sussex House
A precedent for earth-sheltered residential architecture, combining banked grass berms, textured masonry walls, and a recessed glazed portal.
- What we like about this project
- The reflection on the glass mirrors the exterior landscape, visually merging inside and outside.
Materials
- stone
- glass
- steel
- grass
- concrete-paver
Visual identifiers
- sunken-entry
- stone-wall
- grass-berm
- stone-steps
Style tags
- contemporary
- earth-sheltered
- vernacular
- landscape-led
Visual tags
- earth-sheltered
- subterranean
- landscape-integration
- contextual
- residential
- Geometry
- Symmetrical composition featuring a central glazed portal flanked by curving stone walls and angled planted berms.
- Facade system
- Curved dry-stacked or dressed stone wall with a central steel-framed glass entry door.
- Structural guess
- Retaining earth-sheltered masonry structure with concrete slab steps.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scale approach down a residential-width exterior stair into a single-story sunken threshold.
- Lighting
- Diffused overcast daylight with soft illumination on stone steps and clear reflections on the entryway glass.
- Atmosphere
- Quiet and protected, blending heavy masonry massing with surrounding living earthworks.
- Environmental context
- Rural or bucolic setting with surrounding green fields and grass-banked earthworks.
- Spatial experience
- Approaching down a descending stone stair creates a feeling of entering an earth-sheltered subterranean volume.
- Composition rhythm
- Symmetrical central axis with horizontal stair treads contrasting against vertical stone joints and grass slopes.
- Style reading
- Contemporary earth-sheltered vernacular
- Program
- Residential retreat or wellness space
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- stone, glass, steel, grass, concrete-paver
- Visual identifiers
- sunken-entry, stone-wall, grass-berm, stone-steps
- Style tags
- contemporary, earth-sheltered, vernacular, landscape-led
- Visual tags
- earth-sheltered, subterranean, landscape-integration, contextual, residential
- Geometry
- Symmetrical composition featuring a central glazed portal flanked by curving stone walls and angled planted berms.
- Facade system
- Curved dry-stacked or dressed stone wall with a central steel-framed glass entry door.
- Structural guess
- Retaining earth-sheltered masonry structure with concrete slab steps.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scale approach down a residential-width exterior stair into a single-story sunken threshold.
- Lighting
- Diffused overcast daylight with soft illumination on stone steps and clear reflections on the entryway glass.
- Atmosphere
- Quiet and protected, blending heavy masonry massing with surrounding living earthworks.
- Environmental context
- Rural or bucolic setting with surrounding green fields and grass-banked earthworks.
- Spatial experience
- Approaching down a descending stone stair creates a feeling of entering an earth-sheltered subterranean volume.
- Composition rhythm
- Symmetrical central axis with horizontal stair treads contrasting against vertical stone joints and grass slopes.
- Style reading
- Contemporary earth-sheltered vernacular
- Program
- Residential retreat or wellness space
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture