Downley House is a multiple award winning modern home in the heart of the South Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty.

When the clients purchased the land, all that stood was an existing ruin. The architects were asked to design a new family home that would blend in with the local landsacpe but include playful spaces and local textures.

As a local stone quarry, Lambs were approached with a view of manufacturing coursed tooled walling. Whilst the clients wanted Wealden Sussex Sandstone, they didn't want the face to be split. Therefore various samples were produced with different tooled finishes. A mixture of diagonal and straight tooling finishes were selected with different course heights to ensure a soft and neat finish.

Following consultation with East Hampshire District Council, The South Downs national Park and Buriton Parish Council, planning permision was granted in March 2010.  

The architects select the Wealden Sussex Sandstone Top Bed material to form a once weathered coping. 

Whilst no main contractor was appointed, the client was assisted by project managers and a site manager in the procurement of materials and appointing specilised local sub contractors

The end result is a stunning, traditional and award winning project