Wishing Well
Anchored along Jersey's windswept western coastline, Fieldwork has transformed a dilapidated dormer bungalow into a three-bedroom house, shaped by the raw beauty of its surroundings.
Designed for a returning resident after several years living in London, the house departs from the island’s conventional architectural language. It embraces a contemporary, elemental character, expressed through rammed earth and locally quarried granite; materials drawn from the landscape itself and chosen to resist the island’s fierce coastal conditions.
The house is located in an area of outstanding beauty along St Ouen’s bay, where miles of flat sandy beach collides with Atlantic swells and the land behind rises up into the undulating hills of Jersey’s National Park. Working within the island's planning regulations, Fieldwork developed a language of material honesty and context-driven design adapted to the distinct conditions of Jersey's western coast.
Due to strict planning constraints, the architects were required to work with the existing bungalow, carefully keeping a section of the existing wall in place throughout construction and submitting the proposal as an extension rather than a new build.
This limitation became the conceptual starting point for the project. The new home was conceived around the ghost of the original structure: its rectangular footprint is traced by a two-storey stabilised rammed earth wall with the remnants of the bungalow encased within. The handcrafted, textural finish of the earth draws on the island’s raw geology while the material’s inherent thermal mass helps to naturally regulate temperature, keeping the home cool in summer and insulated during Jersey's damp winters.
At ground level, an extra layer of local Jersey granite wraps around the rammed earth core, forming a highly solid, protective wall that shelters the interior from the turbulent elements. A colonnade runs along two sides of the house, forming a covered terrace that offers shade and protection from rain while still maintaining a connection to the landscape.
The local granite, characterised by its natural pink hue, was ground down to form a fine dust which was then mixed into a stabilised rammed earth aggregate—a custom material developed by Fieldwork specifically for the house. This iterative process involved extensive research and testing, working closely with Rammed Earth Structures and Elliott Wood to support the learning process. Testing started with small samples that gradually increased in size, subtly pulling the delicate tones into the building's structure while ensuring the exacting texture and tone were achieved.
In the centre of the home, a section of the rammed earth core has been left exposed, offering a window into the building's construction while repositioning the material as a sculptural focal point that showcases the beautiful, hard-won finish.
The interior layout is somewhat inverted, with the ground floor housing the private bedrooms; a calm, sheltered layer beneath the light-filled living spaces above. The primary suite faces the sea, cocooned by solid walls and the protective colonnade. Arched openings soften the hard geometry, introducing a quiet romanticism to the robust materiality. A vaulted ceiling in the dressing area enhances this sculptural quality, as if carved into the solid mass itself.
Entry to the home is via the ground floor, which features a thoughtful utility zone affectionately known as the “boardroom”, a space designed for rinsing off after swimming or surfing, complete with shower, surfboard storage and direct access to the outdoors.
The main staircase is the organising spine of the home, from which the internal layout and journey is shaped. It stretches upwards to meet the exposed rammed earth wall, connecting the private ground floor spaces with the elevated living areas above. Openings in the facade ensure direct sightlines to the surrounding landscape in either direction of travel.
Moving upstairs, the atmosphere shifts and brightens beneath a large rooflight, opening to an open-plan kitchen and lounge with an adjacent dining room. The first floor stands in contrast to the calm sense of shelter below. Here, the architecture reaches outward through extensive glazing and east- and west-facing terraces that frame panoramic views and capture the changing light throughout the day.
The dining room is located in a timber pavilion that was introduced later in the design process to create additional space and balance the overall massing. The pavilion provides summer shading and its dark timber cladding complements the home’s window frames and joinery while remaining visually subservient to the granite and rammed earth volumes.
Inside, material continuity links the two floors through the strategic use of cream-coloured limestone. Used for the exterior window reveals, it reappears as a continuous band that travels up the staircase and around the floor opening. It forms the kitchen worktops and stone framework that houses custom timber cabinetry designed by Fieldwork. The limestone’s finish shifts according to function: a flamed texture underfoot reveals tiny fossilised shells, while countertops are polished smooth.
The project celebrates Fieldwork’s collaborative approach and the value of collective expertise throughout the process. Developed from initial concepts alongside Singh Studio, the scheme was shaped early on through close engagement with leading SRE engineer Elliot Wood, informing the structural and material possibilities of SRE and local granite. Rigorously explored with specialist contractors, the completed project stands as a testament to the shared knowledge, design, and craft of all those involved.
