The Wash House

The Wash House is a full restoration of a 19th-century wash-house in Bexhill-on-Sea.


The existing building, once utilitarian and overlooked, has been transformed into a space of calm rigor and refined materiality. Brickwork, original roof structure and industrial heritage remain legible and respected. Inside, reclaimed oak beams and subtle modern interventions create an atmosphere where the building’s former purpose is acknowledged but no longer dominant.

Rather than erasing signs of labour, the design honours them: the patina of old brickwork becomes part of the interior texture; the old wash-house footprint becomes a series of generous spatial volumes; daylight is invited in through carefully composed openings and reveals; and the new elements are quiet and precise, deferring rather than dominating.

This is architecture of restraint, the essential preserved, the redundant removed, the new inserted with care. The outcome is a home that pairs memory and contemporary living, heritage and calm modernity.

Small kitchen area with brick wall, white countertop, black bowl, white kettle, shelf with glasses, hanging lamp, and window with wooden frame.
A white ceramic sink with two chrome faucets mounted on a white brick wall. A small soap dish is attached to the wall to the left of the sink. A black towel with a silver stripe hangs from a chrome towel bar under the sink. A rectangular mirror with a dark wooden frame is mounted above the sink, reflecting part of the ceiling and a hanging light fixture.
Rustic kitchen with brick walls, wooden ceiling beams, a wooden table with black chairs, a sink area with a dish rack, shelves with glasses and plates, and a window letting in natural light.
A modern house with a brick ground floor, black upper floor, and gray shingle roof, surrounded by a wooden fence and tall trees in the background, under a cloudy sky with birds flying.
Illustration of a small house with a red brick base, black upper walls, and a slightly sloped roof. A tall brick chimney rises from the roof. The house has a dark door and is surrounded by a wooden fence. In the background, there are trees and a cloudy sky.