Tuckey Design Studio has turned a 16th century Somerset wool hall into a recording studio and home, revealing the essence of the historic structure, finding beauty in the mundane, and celebrating the richness of the building’s past.
Words
Ingrid Petit
Photographs
James Brittain
When you first approach Wool Hall and see its arched entrance, outdoor staircase, and rubble balustrade – features that helped the building earn its Grade II listing – you might not realise the vast tapestry of uses that have taken place within its walls. Originally built in the 1580s as a hub for wool trading in Beckington, just outside Frome, Somerset, the building played a vital role in the local economy. But Wool Hall’s later chapter is perhaps even more intriguing. In the 1980s and 1990s, it became an epicentre of musical production and was owned by Tears for Fears and later Van Morrison. Legendary musicians, including Paul Weller, The Cure, The Smiths, and Joni Mitchell recorded music in the space, among many more. When Tuckey Design Studio was appointed to transform Wool Hall into a family home and recording studio, they expected to discover remnants of this vibrant past. Instead, they were met with a much less glamorous reality: a cold and leaky stone building, fragmented by poorly constructed 1980s extensions with tiled roofs dominating the historic courtyard.
The Hall’s arched entrance, outdoor staircase, and rubble balustrade helped gain its Grade II listing.
As a result, Wool Hall had evolved into an amalgamation of many materials, eras and styles, with the coherence of the original layout lost beneath layers of unsympathetic additions. The buildings were organised in an enfilade of rooms, starting from the historic entrance and following the historic ‘Z’ wall, which was largely hidden behind layers of plasterboard added by these later extensions. Described as “train-carriage-like” by Jonathan Tuckey, the decision was taken to break up this rigid layout by introducing a main entrance where old meets new. This change not only created a more fluid layout but also a more intuitive understanding of the home’s configuration. Standing in this central space, one can now see through to the living room and study, and imagine the bedrooms accessed via the new green metal staircase, which has become the heart of the house. The house now feels unified, with a sense of openness and a stronger connection to its surroundings, qualities that were previously absent.
Portions of the modern extensions have been demolished, revealing the historic stone wall and creating a series of landscape ‘rooms’. ‘Brick rugs’ composed of bricks left over from demolition, mark the thresholds between the courtyard and the new gable extension.
As Tuckey Design Studio collaborated with the client to refine the design brief and spatial requirements, it became evident that the existing buildings were larger than necessary for their intended uses. To further rationalise the existing layout and enhance the historic setting, strategic demolitions of the modern extensions were proposed. This approach improved the building’s connection to the historic courtyard, while also revealing the historic stone wall and therefore reinforced the understanding of the building’s original setting. Sightlines to the landscape are opened, further simplifying orientation and enabling a more intuitive flow from the central entrance. In addition, these tactical demolitions and associated new landscape rooms facilitate much needed cross-ventilation through the spaces, successfully addressing the previous overheating issues.
Beyond rationalising the building’s layout, the project focussed on improving the thermal efficiency of the historic fabric. When working with old structures, architects are often compelled to leave original masonry exposed, treating these surfaces as markers of the building’s history. This choice, mainly driven by aesthetics, can sometimes come at the expense of comfort and energy efficiency, with the building’s thermal shortcomings balanced with additional insulation in the roofs or floors. Here, Tuckey Design Studio consciously challenged this approach, arguing that leaving such surfaces uninsulated solely for the sake of preserving their appearance is environmentally irresponsible.
The open-plan kitchen/ dining/living room within the Hall. The small windows were left untouched as a reminder of the building’s ancient past.
Instead, they explored ways to insulate the stone walls without sacrificing the original surfaces’ character and texture. The solution came in the form of a sustainable mixture of lime and cork insulation, applied to the inside face of the stone walls. These new layers increased the thermal efficiency of the historic walls while still providing a richness in texture that reflects their previous state. In some areas, Diathonite spray was used to further enhance thermal performance. These techniques successfully blended old and new, adding another chapter to the building’s story. This layering can be understood at the threshold spaces, such as the listed entrance porch, where the thermal line is set back to reveal the original wall condition before the thermal upgrades. Only the small windows in the hall, dating back to the 16th century, were left untouched, serving as a reminder of the building’s ancient past.
A different approach was applied to the treatment of the retained modern extensions. Here, rather than adding new layers, existing superfluous ones were removed. Suspended ceilings have been stripped away to reveal the full volume of the rooms, creating more generous spaces and letting more natural light in. To enhance thermal performance, glazing was upgraded and selected finishes were refreshed. The project’s material palette, which consists of painted steel, plywood, and cement boards for the floors, is deliberately simple and modest. But in some places, the cement boards are interrupted by terrazzo flooring, which draws attention to the locations of former rooms or partitions. This gesture serves as a subtle reminder of the building’s evolving history, bringing attention to the interventions that have taken place over time and acting as a marker of past uses.
The reworked modern extensions. Suspended ceilings were stripped away to reveal the full volume of the rooms.
Where layers couldn’t be removed – such as the existing tiled roof over the modern extensions – Tuckey Design Studio faced the challenge of finding beauty in what was initially considered undesirable. The client wanted to replace the roof, believing that the tiles would always dominate the courtyard. However, since the roof was in good condition, it made sense to keep it, aside from where the existing extension was partially demolished. This allowed the roof to be cut back, breaking its continuity where the historic wall is revealed. Incorporating elements from the existing roofs, a new gable extension was also added to improve parts of the existing elevation and threshold. The vertical lines, colour, and business of the fixings on the new timber cladding are all borrowed from the roof, creating a harmonious relationship between the old and new. This allows the existing roof to recede, in turn letting the new intervention take centre stage and successfully transforming what was once viewed as an undesirable element.
Inevitably, the proposed strategic demolitions and general stripping back generated waste materials during construction. From the outset, Tuckey Design Studio and the client shared a strong commitment to sustainability, with a focus on re-using as much as possible to reduce waste. However, achieving this goal is often challenging since it is difficult to predict the state of the materials that will emerge, which makes it hard to come up with workable solutions during the design stage. This goal is therefore often watered down or ignored during the construction phase when competing priorities arise. Although Jonathan Tuckey acknowledges that the final result deviates from the initial sketches, the ambition of re-use has been successfully implemented in this instance. The contractor, who was totally on board with the re-use philosophy, Tuckey Design Studio, and the clients worked together in an exciting and inspiring way that appears to have been the key to this success.
A collage of old and new materials references different layers of the building’s history, and creates spaces that are visually and texturally rich.
The contractor would set aside materials as they were found, giving the team time to consider how they may be used again and come up with creative ways to incorporate them into the design. Some distinctive design elements were created as a result of this strategy, such as the large ‘brick rugs’ in the landscape. These threshold floor treatments mark the entrances to the living areas from the courtyard and are made from reclaimed bricks. Their dimensions and design were dictated by the number of salvaged bricks and are a testament of the architect’s meticulous attention to detail and dedication to re-use.
Similarly, in the spirit of economy and honesty in construction, the breeze blocks and concrete lintels from the modern extensions were left exposed after peeling back the plasterboard, highlighting their utilitarian nature and bringing them up to par with the historic stone walls (to the contractor’s surprise!). This approach of celebrating the ordinary also applies to smaller elements throughout the house. One example is the steel structure that was added to strengthen parts of the existing buildings. It has been painted yellow and left partially exposed, transforming it from a hidden functional element into a playful and intriguing design feature. These unexpected moments of beauty make the building a joyful place to explore.
With its new green metal staircase, the entrance atrium has become the heart of the house, giving an intuitive understanding of the building’s configuration and visual connections between different wings and floors.
Breeze blocks from the modern extensions have been left exposed, highlighting the building’s evolution.
Starting with a building that had lost its coherence beneath unsympathetic additions, Tuckey Design Studio has skilfully peeled back the layers to reveal the essence of Wool Hall’s history, while upgrading it to meet the needs of modern living. Wool Hall stands as a benchmark for future retrofit and re-use projects, showing that with thoughtful collaboration between architects, clients, and contractors, even the most challenging structures can be transformed into something truly inspiring. What was formerly a neglected hall with poor modern additions has now become not just a functional and sustainable home, but a visually rich experience that highlights the building’s evolving story.
Credits
Architect
Tuckey Design Studio
Structural engineer
Momentum
Quantity surveyor
mea
Contractor
Emery Brothers
Suppliers
Fireplace
Burley, fitted by Ignis Stove
Viroc Flooring
Vivalda
Windows and doors
Reynaers
Cork flooring
Granorte
Terrazzo
Diespeker
Claypaint
Earthborn
Limepaint
Bauwerk Colour
Paint on metals
and timbers
Tikkurila
Wood wool boards
Savolit
Linoleum
Forbo Flooring Systems
Wood Stains
Osmo UK
Bathroom tiles
Grestec
Drawings
Source: Architecture Today
