The Dreaming - Rhydoldog House & Barns
Rhydoldog House is the former home of the Laura Ashley family. The house sits in an elevated position at the head of a valley within a beautiful and dramatic wooded landscape. Our client, Charlotte Church, embarked on an ambitious plan to renovate both the house and barns to become a healing retreat; connecting people with the natural world and promoting the importance of ceremony and ritual in social gathering and connections. Arbor worked with our friends at Black Cat Architects to design a scheme that uses biophilic principles to sensitively restore the house and barns, using bio-based materials and renewable energy sources.
The Dreaming is now running as a place for healing through experiencing beauty and wonder.
‘I’ve worked with Elly, Matt and the team at Arbor Architects on a number of projects now and they’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with. At the early design stages the ideas they presented were exactly what I wanted to see; they understood my aspirations and came up with very imaginative and creative responses.
At Rhydoldog House, Arbor Architects have been a massive help with both the big ideas and resolving the finer details. The project is in the process of being transformed into a radical and inspiring new wellness project; building an accessible, zero emissions, off grid healing retreat that helps re-connect people to nature.
The project initially involved converting the historic barns on the site into a wedding venue with guest accommodation and this is where Arbor Architects originally got involved. They helped guide me through the design and planning process and really challenged my initial thoughts and ideas about how to use the spaces. What we ended up with was a really collaborative design, that made the most of the barn's potential and the incredible natural setting. I have since asked Arbor Architects to continue working with me on the conversion of the main house and another project that’s in the very early design phases.
I really enjoy working with the Arbor Team and find them proactive, inspiring and fun to work with!’
— Charlotte Church