Secular retreat peter zumthor

His first permanent building in the UK

by Atelier Peter Zumthor with Mole Architects for Living Architecture, winning RIBA South West Award 2019 and RIBA National Award 2019

Peter Zumthor . Secular Retreat . Devon (2)

The Secular Retreat is a sturdy slab of a building constructed from stratified blocks of concrete, glimmering glass windows, and limestone floors.

Elemental simplicity on a Devon hilltop

Asked in an interview question recently to define good design, I reflected, and wrote that it is a quality found in the most ancient art that has stood the test

The Secular Retreat - construction photo - Chivelstone Devon UK - Peter Zumthor 2016 (original image Simon Cannon Limited contractors)

Inside Peter Zumthor’s Secular Retreat in Devon (that’s me tippy tapping, thanks Mark!), part of Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture…

Peter Zumthor | a f a s i a

Peter Zumthor . Secular Retreat . Devon afasia (4) | a f a s i a

Secular Retreat. 2018. South Devon, England. Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor . The Secular Retreat . Devon (2)

Initial sketches were rudimentary, organic in their delineation and primal in their expression. Solid, rough-hewn pieces of stone were assembled,

peter zumthor architekt / retreat house, south devon

“It has become rare to be able to sit in a house and look out at a beautiful landscape where no trace of another building interrupts the lines of the rolling...