This country home, located in a river valley in Hampshire, was designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects as a series of stone pavilions.
Nestled into a gentle slope, the 1,250 square-metre home's stepped, concrete-framed volumes sit against a long, flint-clad "inhabitable wall", which houses a swimming pool.

"The contrast of a load bearing, heavy, sheltering wall and framed, openable pavilions set sup a sense of difference that reflects the ned to screen the site from the north and open it towards the south and west," Niall McLaughlin, founder of Niall McLaughlin Architects, told Dezeen.
Despite its large size, the majority of the spaces of the home have been kept relatively small, with areas at the edges of the plan able to be closed off during quiet periods using large sliding doors.
"The house can expand and contract," explained McLaughlin. "On a busy weekend, it might accommodate parents, children, grandparents and a visiting family with their children housed in the bunk room."
The plan is organised around a central, double-height kitchen, off which sit a series of communal living spaces.

The stepped arrangement allows each of these spaces to overlook the surrounding landscape to the west and the south, with folding wooden screens to provide shading if necessary.

"We looked carefully at the plans of Katsura Villa in Kyoto, where the main building has a similar stepped plan allowing multiple rooms to share the view,"...