A three-bedroom home that cost £335,000 to build on the site of a former farmstead has been named House of the Year.
House Lessans, which was constructed from white rendered, concrete walls, is located in the rolling countryside in Co Down, Northern Ireland.
Judges for the RIBA House of the Year 2019 said the L-shaped property cost £1,425 a square metre, which was a “remarkable achievement for a newly built home of this scale”.
RIBA president Alan Jones said: “House Lessans demonstrates that life-enhancing architecture does not have to cost the earth.
“Even with the tightest of budgets, House Lessans shows that a dream home, designed by a talented architect, can be a reality.”
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Sylvia and Michael, who own the property, said they opted for just one bathroom because it saved on cleaning.
They said: “It is a joy to live in – from seeing the soaring bedroom ceiling on wakening, being surrounded by the gentle landscape in the kitchen during the day, to enjoying the sunset in the top room.”
Architect Kieran McGrath, of the firm McGonigle McGrath, said the house “we hope, extends our understanding of how to make buildings in our countryside”.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) presents the award to the UK’s best new architect-designed house.
House Lessans was revealed as the winner in the final episode of a special Channel 4 series, Grand Designs: House Of The Year.
