The Glimpse

This started as a derelict ammunition store - part of the WWII coastal defence infrastructure built along the north Cornwall coast in the early 1940s. By the time Elements Build arrived on site, the structure had been stripped back to bare concrete. The foundations had never been properly underpinned. The brief was to make it liveable without losing what made it worth saving.

Working with Marrum Architects, the approach was methodical. Foundations underpinned. The roof lifted and rebuilt - clad in custom Cornish larch and finished in standing-seam tin. The entire structure brought up to modern performance standards: fully insulated, airtight, and heated by an air source heat pump with underfloor heating throughout. Acoustic insulation throughout the build means the Atlantic wind outside stays outside.

Inside, the material choices reinforce the character of the place. The flooring is reclaimed timber salvaged from a decommissioned chapel in East Anglia - worn smooth and full of history. Doors are custom-made. The bathroom suite was reclaimed. The views - across the dunes and out to sea - were treated as the centrepiece of the design, with windows and openings positioned to frame the Cornish coastline at every turn. Outside, raised beds planted with marram grass tie the building back into the coastal landscape it sits in.