Red House: the extraordinary Dorset home crowned RIBA House of the Year 2022

Red House by David Kohn Architects has won the coveted RIBA House of the Year 2022 title – crowning this idiosyncratic rural Dorset home as the country's best new single-family residential project. Its creator David Kohn, the London-based architect and founder of his namesake studio, was thrilled. 'It’s super exciting. I was pretty flabbergasted, it’s a very special honour,' he confessed. But take one look at Red House, and it's immediately clear that this special honour goes to a pretty special project.

RIBA HOUSE OF THE YEAR 2022: Red House by David Kohn

On paper, and without having seen it, describing Red House can make it appear relatively ordinary – unassuming, even. It is a red brick house (like many in the country), with a pitched roof (a common typology in the countryside, especially), a long and thin floorplan (again, frequently found in the agricultural genre), and some green accents (a nod to the verdant expanses around it). 

Yet take a closer look and while all the above remain true, every detail and every choice has been given a special treatment, an oomph, a twist that makes this house quite extraordinary. Having its roots firmly placed in a sense of the 'ordinary' means the end result elevates its genre and surprises; it is playful, while also tackling everyday problems around living and domestic space head-on. 

The red brickwork, for example, uses several different bond types, some vertical, and some horizontal; the green is an eye-catching, vibrant shade used in window and door frames, as well as various external metal details, which have in turn been given a slightly exaggerated, expressive, unusual shape; and a series of curves, from porthole windows to brick elements, and a bedroom ceiling that feels almost like a fabric hanging from a frame, add a sense of movement, clearly marking this home as contemporary, standing apart from its peers.

Quirkiness and challenges – and having perimeters and restrictions – are crucial in architecture, according to Kohn: 'Clients are very important to us – and that is not paying lip service to the idea. I very much enjoy talking about design, having a conversation where you are learning about someone and understanding their wants and needs. I don’t appreciate the idea of carte blanche so much. And the more you work with someone, the more you understand that everyone is idiosyncratic in their own way and that drives what is special in the design every time.'

This was the case with Red House too. When the clients approached Kohn, they had already tried several solutions by working with a handful of different architects. Having collaborated with Kohn in the past, albeit on art projects, they decided to try his take on residential design. At the same time, they were keen to get the project done fast. Kohn's expert approach and deep understanding of all the needs and parameters around the brief quickly bore fruit. 'I drew a design for them quite quickly and the end result hasn’t diverged too much from that original design,' the architects says. 

There were some key constraints that came with the project, which Kohn and his team folded into their solution, designing with them – instead of around them – to ensure the final product felt organic and holistic, a celebration instead of a compromise. For instance, for planning purposes, it was practical to work with the long, thin footprint of an existing agricultural structure on site – and the team adopted it. 

The owners' art, design objects and various collections and processions needed a home within this home, to allow for the interior to appear less cluttered. Kohn designed three 'towers' which are scattered across the floorplan, alternating with living spaces on the ground floor and providing the all-important concealed storage and services. They are echoed on the outside by a change in the brick bond and pattern. Kohn's references include Alison and Peter Smithsons’ Put-Away House, a conceptual home designed around storage provision: 'It's about acknowledging contemporary consumerism and making space for it, and here we take a house and we build the architecture around these objects.'

One of the 'towers' incorporates a lift – another of the owners' key requests – so that the home is future-proofed for later life. This is helped also by its wide openings and accessible rooms. The distinct lack of corridors is another noticeable feature in the same vein. This move – creating a whole ground floor without doors or corridors – was discussed in depth between Kohn and his clients, using references such as the academic essay 'Figures, Doors, and Passages' by Robin Evans, which analyses the history of the house and our use of it. 

The team pulled ideas around the corridor and how this can be a tool to encourage or deter interaction among residents – helping to segregate or unite spaces, and therefore, affect encounters. It was decided that in this case, these should be encouraged, as the clients often entertain guests. Meanwhile, the design allows space for seclusion by crafting a series of nooks across the plan where the users can feel more cocooned and private. 

'And the long, [ground-floor] enfilade of rooms works like that; it makes for a very sociable house,' says Kohn. At the same time, the owners enjoyed having this conversation about history and theory coming alive through seemingly simple architectural gestures throughout. 

A dramatic, sculptural staircase takes visitors up to the private areas, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, and a study. Again, in its arrangement and essence, this home appears fairly 'ordinary' – yet was the result of intense research and plenty of conversation between architect and his clients. Architectural theory and academic references blend with practical needs and pragmatic decisions, making this home a deeply considered piece of residential architecture, elegantly existing in the space between ordinary and extraordinary, everyday and truly special. 

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THE SHORTLIST

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