Site works start on North Devon Manor House renovation

Work has begun to sensitively unpick decades of sub-standard construction to bring this North Devon Manor House back to its former glory.

Planning was secured in 2024 to turn the building into a family home following its previous use as a collection of self contained holiday apartments. The proposals will also improve the thermal performance of the house while also addressing a number of structural issues.

Meanwhile, the contractor gets to enjoy view like this…

May 28, 2025

Planning approved for a family home on the south coast

Our design for the full renovation and deep retrofit of a 1960s bungalow near Falmouth, tailored for a growing young family, secured planning approval this month. The scheme uses natural materials throughout, with significant upgrades to insulation, airtightness and heating to create a tactile, comfortable house with much lower running costs.

Asymmetric dormer windows add character while framing views of the sea. Light timber cladding and a standing seam metal roof help this modest but high-performing home sit comfortably in its coastal setting.

April 30, 2025

Straw house on site in North Cornwall

Our latest project on site is a new build straw home on the north coast of Cornwall using the EcoCocon wall system. The panels combine straw and timber to create a vapour permeable wall which, when combined with external wood-fibre insulation, creates an air-tight construction with no thermal bridges.

By using renewable materials, the building will save several tons of CO2, something that we will be investigating more fully as the project progresses.

At KAST we are passionate about building more sustainably, and by using the EcoCocon system we are able to ensure this new home will have both low embodied and operation carbon emissions.

It’s certainly generating a lot of interest among local architects and contractors.

March 25, 2025

Tree Planting with Plant One

KAST has been proud business partners of Plant One CIC for a couple of years now, and this week we were invited to join them at their new site near Falmouth for another day of tree planting.

Some very basic facts for you: Worldwide our tree cover is around 31%. In the UK this is down at 13%. However in Cornwall we are as low as 9%.

Plant One’s mission is to help replenish our Cornish temperate rainforests and they do this by partnering with local land-owners and businesses.

We had a great time with the team, and powered by a seemingly endless supply of biscuits we helped to finish off the planting on this site with plenty of time to spare to head to the pub.

February 28, 2025

Community Roots HQ nearing completion

In 2023, KAST was approached by Community Roots to assist them with the planning, funding and construction of a new building to support their vegetable growing enterprise.

Community Roots’ overarching vision is to create a sustainable model connecting nature, community and food. Their immediate mission is to grow food and community in planet positive ways. They have converted an acre of bare agricultural land into a productive, no-dig, organic market garden. As well as producing low-impact, locally grown, affordable, healthy food for their community, they work with the community, offering volunteering and learning opportunities and hosting activities and events. They aim to grow local food and friendships to help build community resilience.

The new building will support their current work and enable them to increase their offering to the local community and diversify their business activities so that they can become financially self-sufficient.

Completion is due by the end of February.

January 31, 2025

Contemporary family home in Devon

Overlooking the Exe Estuary, this new home for Lara and Mike is now complete. The design replaces a tired old bungalow with a contemporary and sustainable new family home, maximising views to the south west while respecting the privacy of the neighbouring gardens.

At 420m2, the house has a generous open plan kitchen and dining space on the ground floor which opens out to a raised terrace which gently steps down to the garden. A separate lounge space enjoys the southerly views, while to the northern side are utility spaces and a home office. Upstairs there are four bedrooms and a family room, all of which benefit from a deep balcony.

We look forward to sharing further photos of this stunning new home in the new year. In the meantime you can view further images and reels via our client’s Instagram account @ourhomeby_river

December 19, 2024

Now we are ten

This month KAST Architects is ten years old – wow, that went quickly!

But maybe time flies when you are having fun?

And of course you can only truly have fun if you are happy where you work.

That is why developing the right work culture has been at the core of every decision we have made at KAST, and this includes who we have chosen to join our team. So this is a big thank you to everyone who has been a part of our little practice over the past ten years and who has helped to drive us forward.

With massive hugs and thanks to the KAST team past and present:

Adam, Miguel, David, Jakob, Tim, Jess, Jack, Hugo, Alex, Joe, Fran, Nell, Narta and Chris.

Superstars, one and all x

November 22, 2024

Planning approved!

We’ve recently been granted permission for this house on the coast in North Cornwall.

Close proximity to a watercourse puts the lower half of the site at a risk of flooding. We worked alongside Mei Loci Landscape Architects who created a landscape scheme that embraces the waterside terrain, with meandering pathways running through planting specified to help mitigate flood risk.

Sitting on higher ground the house is designed to face primarily out over the landscaped garden with the location of other openings chosen to frame views out to the coast, avoiding overlooking of neighbouring properties.

October 25, 2024

Praa Sands houses progressing on site

Our two new houses for two different client on the outskirts of Praa Sands are making great progress on site. Designed as two similar structures, sharing the same external proportions and finishes, the houses replace a couple of tired dormer bungalows that were reaching the end of their design life.

Construction is being led by Norsk with structural engineering input from Martin Perry Associates.

Materials include Trebarwith Stone from north Cornwall and thermally modified British Ash from our friends at Vastern Timber.

September 27, 2024

Community building now on site!

This month our design for a new agricultural building for Community Roots – a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Community Interest Company based in Porthtowan – hit site.

Their overarching vision is to create a sustainable model connecting nature, community and food. Their immediate mission is to grow food and community in planet positive ways.

They have converted an acre of bare agricultural land into a productive, no-dig, organic market garden. As well as producing low-impact, locally grown, affordable, healthy food for our community, they work with the community, offering volunteering and learning opportunities and hosting activities and events. They aim to grow local food and friendships to help build community resilience.

The new building will support Community Roots’ current work and enable them to increase their offering to the local community and diversify their business activities so that they can become financially self-sufficient.

Our friends at Warvena Construction are motoring on with the highly insulated timber frame and we look forward to sharing progress over the coming months.

August 28, 2024

Photoshoot in a walled garden

KAST was originally approached in 2018 to explore the possibility of designing and building a new home nestled within a historic walled garden. A carefully navigated route through planning resulted in full approval in late 2020 with work on site beginning in the summer of 2021.

The oak framed house was completed in late 2022 and now that the surrounding landscape has had time to establish itself and the timber cladding has had a chance to soften in tone, we have returned with Anthony Greenwood to photograph it.

More shots to follow!

July 18, 2024

KAST swim the Kastle to Kastle!

Well, we did it… the eight members of KAST Architects swam the RNLI Castle to Castle event from Falmouth to St Mawes and thanks to you guys we have managed to raise £5,250 for Man Down Cornwall, more than double our initial target!

Mental health issues are common within the architecture and construction industry. Unfortunately this can be particularly stigmatised in the male demographic and all too often goes unnoticed. At KAST we all hugely appreciate the intrinsic benefits that being in, beside or around the sea has on our mental health.

Man Down Cornwall, a Cornish based non-profit Community Interest Company, do amazing work to reduce this stigma and to bring down the number of male suicides.

As a studio we have also made a one off donation in support of the RNLI who organised the event and whose boundless work keeps people safe in and around the sea.

If you would like to make a last minute contribution, please follow this link.

June 30, 2024

Planning Approval for North Devon Manor House

This month KAST secured planning approval for the renovation and extension of a 19th Century hunting lodge within the Exmoor National Park. The house is set within 26 acres of its own grounds, in a landscape of steeply incised wooded valleys and cliffs that run down to the sea.

The house has been run as a holiday business for the last 60 years and is currently sub-divided into 7 self contained holiday apartments. The proposals will return the building to a single dwelling, improving the thermal performance of the house and addressing a number of structural issues.

To the rear of the property, set within a walled garden, will be a new swimming pool and garden room.

Construction will commence in the Spring of 2025.

May 26, 2024

Photoshoot at Gwelefan

In the Autumn of 2020, KAST was commissioned to design a replacement dwelling on Eastcliff, overlooking Porthtowan on the north coast of Cornwall. Gwelefan was completed in late 2023 and today we returned to photograph the finished product.

More photos from Edward Jose Photography to follow!

April 14, 2024

Two years a B Corp

Exactly two years ago KAST Architects became B Corp certified. March is B Corp month and in line with that we are proud to share our second impact report, telling you a bit about who we are, what we have been up to and where we are going.

We have some exciting projects coming up, both in and outside the studio which we’re excited to share with you. Including a big swim for the whole team and a community building with zero concrete foundations.

Thanks as always to the B Local Cornwall+ group members for sharing their knowledge, B Lab UK and the wider B Corp UK community for always being there to help out!

Head over to our Studio page to have a read of our report, or go to impact-reporting.com where you will find many other reports from all sorts of business doing their best to be as open and transparent as possible.

March 28, 2024

Annex building now complete

Constructed by Hesken Construction, our proposal for a new annex building on the outskirts of Truro is now complete.

The larch clad timber frame building provides some much needed additional accommodation for family members and visiting relatives and is perched on the edge of their plot with wonderful easterly views out over the countryside towards the the Tresillian River.

More photos to follow later in the year.

February 23, 2024