buckland splice

Buckland Splice is a digitally crafted home set within the quiet hinterland of the village of Buckland, Buckinghamshire. Once a failing end-of-terrace cottage dating back to the 1840s, the house has been carefully reimagined and brought back to life.

Plagued by rising damp, subsidence and a deteriorating roof, the original building required a decisive intervention. The design pares the structure back to its essence, retaining only the three original external brick façades. Within this historic shell, a new exposed Douglas fir floor is introduced, transforming the ground floor into a light-filled, contemporary living space. This leads to a dramatic triple-height volume, where a bespoke plywood staircase gently winds upwards. Daylight is drawn deep into the plan through a combination of rooflight and window, animating the interior throughout the day.

Above, the home is reconfigured into a single, cohesive dwelling, complete with a refined contemporary bathroom. The principal bedroom is arranged around a series of dual-aspect windows, framing expansive views across the surrounding countryside and the Chiltern Hills beyond.
To the rear, a striking new extension constructed from cross-laminated timber introduces a bold yet natural counterpoint to the existing house. Its sculpted form supports an extensive planted valley roof, while internally the exposed CLT creates a warm, tactile character. A pared-back kitchen wraps the space, anchored by generous picture windows that open the house to the garden and the cabin beyond.

The Generator Cabin is where the project’s ingenuity truly comes to life. Once an overlooked remnant of previous owners, the former cabin is transformed into a working heart for the home. Wrapped in a timber exoskeleton, it now supports rainwater harvesting, a solar array, home battery storage and an electric boiler—reinterpreting the traditional estate power house as a future-ready, off-grid solution. Inside, two sculptural semi-circular service pods form a shower room, WC and basin, while the remaining space becomes a fully equipped studio for working from home.

Buckland Splice is a project about renewal and imagination—where old structures are not discarded, but reimagined. It demonstrates how buildings can be revitalised for a more sustainable future.