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On Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, TYPE turns two derelict quarrymen’s cottages into an 85-square-meter retreat built almost entirely through reuse.
In a small hamlet on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, TYPE has turned two worn-out quarrymen’s cottages into a retreat made from stone, timber, old paint, and whatever could be saved. The 85-square-meter project joins the two 19th-century buildings into one home, guided by a client brief that rejected the fresh, clean look of a standard renovation. The architects kept the rough stone walls, reused old joists and floorboards, reworked original staircases, and brought in salvaged fittings only where needed.
The project was guided by what TYPE calls radical reuse. Before adding anything new, the architects looked at what could be kept, repaired, moved, or adapted. Old joists were denailed by hand and reused as studwork. Damaged floorboards became ceiling cladding. Original staircases were reclaimed and reconfigured. Salvaged timber with traces of red and green paint was used for wall panels, doors, and shelving. Even the stone sinks were carved from leftover fragments at a nearby Purbeck quarry.
Inside, the house keeps the directness of the original cottages while making room for a new way of living. A double-height central space now forms the living and dining area, with exposed stone walls, stone floors, timber boarding, a fireplace, and a reclaimed French stove. The kitchen sits to one side, connected back to the main room through a restored butler’s window. Above, the two sleeping areas sit at opposite ends of the house, separated by the taller central volume; one side holds the principal bedroom, while the other includes a mezzanine writer’s room that can also work as a guest room.
TYPE avoided extensions and kept the external envelope largely intact. The energy work followed the same logic as the material strategy: improve the building without turning it into a new one. Wood-fiber insulation was added to the roof, lime-based insulating plaster replaced cement render on the walls, and the former fossil-fuel heating system was replaced with an air-source heat pump and solar panels. Purbeck Cottage feels convincing because the reuse is not decorative. It is in the structure, the fittings, the surfaces, and the small decisions that let the house stay close to what it already was.
