THE architect Ian Adam-Smith grew up in what he describes as ‘Lutyens territory’ and was greatly influenced in his early years by the architect and COUNTRY LIFE contributor Roderick Gradidge. Having trained first at Plymouth and then Kingston, he set up his practice 25 years ago in a converted garage in Frensham, Surrey, and it now has a reputation for creating new houses rich in architectural detail that appear to have evolved over the centuries. To date, the team has been involved in more than 700 projects across West Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey, as well as in London.
He has recently been joined by his eldest son, Mungo, and the practice is based in a group of barns that stand in the grounds of the family home near Fernhurst in West Sussex, within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park. This studio space is in a traditional timber-frame barn, which was built about 20 years ago. ‘It has been a refuge for my father since the pandemic, when he moved here,’ explains Mr Adam-Smith Jnr.
Before its reinvention as a workspace, the barn was a lambing shed and hay store. At one end, it had a small kitchen and a primitive bathroom. The first intervention was to pull in the porch to create an interesting internal configuration and a more generous elevation.
Denne historien er fra June 05, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 05, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
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'Without fever there is no creation'
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The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
