De Matos Ryan expands guest accommodation at historic British country house hotel that inspired Alice in Wonderland

De Matos Ryan has collaborated with renowned interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon (CHZON) to create a new pavilion building for Cowley Manor Experimental, Experimental Group’s beloved and historic British country house hotel. The new, stone clad, internally timber framed pavilion houses five generous guest rooms with a variety of interconnected family suite options. The extension reinstates a refined but striking masonry pavilion on the site of a long lost former Grand Ballroom from 1900.

Sat within 55 acres of Cotswolds countryside, Cowley Manor Experimental is home to 36 bedrooms and suites, the award-winning C-Side spa, restaurant (overseen by Chef Patron Jackson Boxer), Experimental Cocktail Club Cotswolds Bar, lounge, library and plentiful living rooms. 

First constructed in 1695, the land was once owned by Edward the Confessor and the property designed by the renowned R.A.Briggs. It is also widely recognised as the inspiration for Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland. However, like many extraordinary country houses, Cowley Manor fell into institutional use during the war. It was revitalised as a leading country hotel in 1999 in what was De Matos Ryan's first significant commission. The bedroom pavilion is a unique opportunity for the practice to continue its sensitive design-led development of the estate, described by Historic England as ‘one of England’s best heritage-led development schemes. It shows that with imagination and skill, old buildings can be given a new and positive future’.

Once the idyllic rural retreat of the Horlick family of malted drink fame and fortune, the Cowley Manor estate was purchased during the Art Deco era by the young Heber-Percy and his American wife, who set about ‘modernising’ the house. While glass-walled bathrooms in the ‘modern’ style were added, most of the decorated ceilings, timber panelling, carvings, and statuary were removed in an act that might now be considered unthinkable vandalism. The demolition of the ballroom gave way to a new outdoor swimming pool terrace, which the new pavilion now elegantly occupies.

Typical of De Matos Ryan’s work, the new pavilion playfully borrows from the past in order to create something meaningful for the future. Its arched openings and scalloped stone bays present a contemporary but respectful reinterpretation of the original Italianate arched and pilastered frontage designed by RA Briggs. The pavilion has a clear modern identity distinct from the body of the main house, yet suitably fitting, re-establishing a bookend to the main house and terrace.

Minimising environmental impact is central to all De Matos Ryan projects. This was a key driver in making material choices for the pavilion. Whilst dressed, carved stone was a relatively straight forward contextual decision externally, the opportunity to reimagine historic timber linings internally presented the conceptual conditions to explore an exceptionally low-carbon typology of both materials brought together. The Cotswold stone was quarried locally from only three miles away. Aside from its cutting, it is, in effect, a ready-made, low energy material, that is self-finished and self-supporting when forming an external skin. Its ability to nowadays be primarily shaped by machine is almost certainly the envy of the original stonemasons.

The internal timber frame structure is sustainably sourced, UK grown, Douglas fir. It offers the opportunity to engage an elemental constructional methodology that 'looks like the way it is built', using standard sizes and traditional carpentry techniques in a modern manner. Double member columns clamp and bolt together about purlins, which then support joist decks.  Ends are cut and notched simply to resolve junctions elegantly.

Within the inner Douglas fir wall and roof build ups, Magply is employed to create a fire barrier, which is lined internally with an expressed sarking layer of Garnica reinforced maple ply. Subtle distinctions between these timber species are blurred by a tinted Envirograf intumescent treatment, which renders the whole in a calm off-white finish.

Other sustainability measures include the use of air-source heat pumps providing heating and hot water, high levels of insulation and airtightness above building regulations, a natural ventilation strategy by means of clerestory windows.  In addition, the building supports local biodiversity with a planted sedum flat roof.

Direct access and connection to the unique Grade 2* Listed gardens is provided via the arched doorways of the front elevation. A first-floor terrace provides an elevated platform from which to enjoy the landscape in the same way as the primary first floor bedrooms of the original main house.

The physical connection between old and new continues and builds from De Matos Ryan's previous interventions at Cowley Manor Experimental, where juxtaposition is carefully handled. The pavilion is read as a secondary detached building volume that is respectful of its host and context.

The re-imagined Cowley Manor Experimental continues to embody a timeless contemporary style, as it embarks on an exciting new chapter in its history.

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