Old Chapel / Jonathan Tuckey Design

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Old Chapel / Jonathan Tuckey Design - Exterior Photography, Windows, Door, Facade

Text description provided by the architects. Tuckey Design Studio was approached by the client to re-appropriate a converted chapel to accommodate their new permanent family home. The Old Chapel stands within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The site area measures approximately 520 square metres; low exposed stone walls define the edges of the property separating it from the main road and adjacent buildings on the southwest side.

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Built in the first half of the 20th century, the Old Chapel was converted into a dwelling in the 1970s, with a series of interventions added in the 90s, the majority of which hold no historic or architectural value.

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Through a series of thoughtful interventions, the project looks to uncover the original character of the chapel and create a more appropriate and characterful space.

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Tuckey Design Studio first removed the earlier additions from the ’90s and reinstated the former north entrance to the chapel as the main stair hall, allowing for a more fluid circulation throughout the whole space, and between the living spaces on the first floor and bedrooms on the ground floor.

Old Chapel / Jonathan Tuckey Design - Interior Photography, Windows

New alterations to the former chapel building were minimal, including the introduction of a new extension positioned between the southwest corner of the chapel and the stone boundary wall. The remodeled single-story volume enlarges the ground floor space of the chapel whilst creating a terrace accessible from the first floor. A new patio fills the ground-floor bedrooms with natural light and creates a calm outdoor space full of vegetation.

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Internally, Tuckey Design Studio redesigned the layout of the ground floor to make space for 4 bedrooms and bathrooms with an ecclesiastic feel, a calm material palette, and niches within plastered walls to increase storage space.

Old Chapel / Jonathan Tuckey Design - Interior Photography, Bedroom

The grand open plan of the chapel at the first-floor level was designed to host a living room, dining, and kitchen where the whole family can gather. An additional ensuite bedroom was added in the attic space, a timber box was inserted above the kitchen and behind the chapel stone arched wall – a reminder of a wooden choir/pulpit structure.

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