UK Travel Blog

Fancy a self-catering break, but tired of the quaint cottages – why not try one of these very unusual properties?

Brits are a slightly odd group when it comes to architecture. On the one hand we mostly live in rather bland box houses, but on the other we seem to have a desire for modern and totally way out designs such as the Gherkin, aka. Swiss Re building in London.

So the big question is – can we be drawn away from our country cottage and log cabin holidays, and spend a weekend somewhere truly cutting edge?

A company called Living Architecture really hope so as they have worked with some of the most modern architects around the world to create a series of very unique and very cutting edge holiday homes. We’ll document them below.

1) The Balancing Barn in Thorington, Suffolk is possibly the most frightening building idea I’ve ever seen. Take a long single story building, cover it in tin-foil and then suspend half the building over the edge of a small man-made hill…with absolutely nothing holding it up!

Click here to see a picture of the Balancing Barn (opens new window)

This seems to defy logic and gravity in equal measure, but then again if you think about it, you could say the same thing about any bridge. We are sure this is well bolted down, but maybe a little too cutting edge for me at least.

The actual setting around the house however is really nice and relaxing with minimalist landscaped gardens. If you want a quick escape route, there’s even a hatch in the overhang with a ladder to make it a little more exciting.

Internally the house is very minimalist, but that fits in with the overall concept and it has a clever use of space such as a hidden away TV.

2) Close by is Dune House near Thorpeness which has all parts firmly on the ground or at least on the beach.

The rather unique features of this house are it’s location right on the beach and that almost all the groundfloor walls are made from glass, giving a very panoramic view. The outside changes daily with the sand actually mounting up against different walls as it’s blown around.

The roof is a little angular in design for me, but overall the design is a lot more aesthetically pleasing and house-like. Inside there’s not an awful lot apart from the four upstairs bedrooms and a bath, but lack of cupboard space is apparently a “design feature” – well this is minimalist.

3) The Shingle House is in essence house-like in design, although fits into it’s surroundings quite well going by the drawings on the web site – it’s so new there aren’t yet any photos.

There are actually 3 buildings which are finished in tarred black shingles and located on the shingle beach of Dungeness with only a few scattered beach huts to keep them company. This is rustic simplicity done extremely well and blended into the surroundings.

4) The Long House actually reminds me of a Roman Villa and is apparently designed to have some appearance of a Medieval style hall.

The inside layout is very simple (as all these are modernist designs) but using local materials to make sure it doesn’t stand out from the surroundings too much. When it’s built there’ll be loads of light from the massive windows and a rather nice balcony along both sides.

Bookings for the Long House will be being taken from 2011.

5) The Secular Retreat is another “to be built” design, but if the images are anything to go by this could be described as cave living for the 21st Century.

The holiday house will be built on top of a hill between Salcombe and Hallsands in South Devon with extensive views of the South Devon countryside.

The building will be created from “original rammed concrete” (not exactly sure what that is), so whether it’ll fit in or look like another concrete monster time will tell….although when you have world renowned architect Peter Zumthor designing it then it should be good.

For a little more insight into the homes, see this Guardian article.