Former WWII Listening Post set to be transformed into luxury home

Something a little more unusual to share from our Residential Architecture team – the renovation of a dilapidated former WWII listening post in the Bedfordshire countryside.

Our client approached us to explore redeveloping the building into a luxury home, while retaining the historic character of the building, especially from public vantage points.

We worked to retain the bunker aesthetic and meadow frontage so that the building remained relatively understated from the front. The heavy metal sliding doors and slightly scruffy outer brickwork remain, punctuated with openings allowing views out and through the building. We explored many concepts for the first floor and felt a zinc barrel vaulted roof would be fitting, echoing the war time aesthetic of shelters.

The resulting design has created a beautiful home with a double height entrance lobby, lounge and kitchen along with cosy snugs and games room. The top floor has five double bedrooms with en-suites, four of which have a cantilevered balcony. The outdoor space is a real feature, with two patio/garden areas; one is lawned while the second is a high specification retractable patio/deck revealing a pool beneath. Safe to say we had a lot of fun conceptualising this.

For further information contact:

Jason Leonard

Director

j.leonard@woodshardwick.com