Chartwell was the family home of Sir Winston Churchill.  It is now owned and managed by the The National Trust and open to the public, with over 200,000 visitors a year.  Our modest new pavilion building, which houses new visitor WCs and storage, is located in the Grade II* listed gardens, and is the first structure to be built on the site since Churchill’s time.  The property is also in the green-belt, which meant careful negotiations were required at planning stage.  Following detailed consideration of a range of options, including the conversion of existing Grade I buildings to provide expanded facilities, the preferred proposal was for a new pavilion to be constructed in the former ‘urn garden’.

The form and material of the pavilion take cues from the local Kentish vernacular of peg tiled roofs and gables, with the pitch of the roof echoing the angle of pitched roofs in the area, designed to be partially visible above the hedge that surrounds the garden, but unobtrusive. The layout is compact and allows natural light and ventilation: a section of the wall is comprised of open louvres on a timber structure.