Project Info
Project Name: HiAven
Location: Cotswolds, United Kingdom
Designer: McLaren Excell
Architect: BPN Architects
Landscape: Rosebank
In the gentle undulations of England’s famed Cotswolds countryside, where honey-colored stone cottages and rolling pastures define a quintessential rural landscape, a striking new architectural statement quietly asserts itself. HiAven, a newly completed residence set into the hills, is both a bold presence and a careful whisper in the landscape - a home that balances monumental form with alluring domestic warmth.
HiAven’s monolithic form settles into the rolling landscape of the Cotswolds
The project began with a clear challenge: reinterpret the traditional values of countryside dwellings while crafting something utterly contemporary. The external form - sculptural, monolithic, and intentionally minimalist - was conceived by BPN Architects for a visionary developer. Yet when London-based design studio McLaren Excell was brought on board to shape the interiors, the focus turned to making this vast, concrete-framed structure feel human, warm, and inviting.
The home stretches low across the hillside, echoing the contours of the land
HiAven occupies a generous plot among fields and hills, its long, single-story layout gently spreading out across the terrain. Though its silhouette initially reads as abstract and austere, the home’s materiality tells another story. Drawing inspiration from the ironstone that threads through the Cotswolds’ geology, the concrete exterior is imbued with a warm, earthy tone that ties it to its surroundings - a deliberate act that allows the structure to settle into place, rather than sit atop it.
Inside, the contrast between the shell’s severity and the interior experience is palpable. The design palette privileges tactile, natural materials - travertine stone, elm timber, and wool upholstery - each selected to soften sightlines and enrich spatial qualities. These surfaces, combined with bespoke sculptural joinery and built-in furniture, add an intimacy and context that counterbalance the expansive volumes.
Soft timber, travertine and wool temper the severity of the home’s sculptural shell
Bespoke joinery and natural finishes bring warmth to the home’s expansive volumes
A living space designed for stillness, light and long views across open fields
Despite its impressive scale, HiAven remains intimately connected to both its environment and those who inhabit it. Long vistas frame panoramas of rolling fields; carefully oriented rooms emphasize light, landscape, and the calm rhythms of rural life. Each wing of the house feels both generous and purposeful, revealing itself in sequence rather than all at once - a choreography that makes every moment in the home feel lived-in and considered.
A bedroom that feels cocooned yet open to the landscape beyond
A spa-like bathroom carved from stone and light
A double-height window turns light and landscape into part of the room’s architecture
The creativity woven into HiAven’s design has not gone unnoticed. The residence, sometimes referenced as a contemporary farmhouse, was celebrated for its craftsmanship and material innovation, earning accolades like the Wood Awards’ best new timber house, praised for its hybrid structural system and sensitive engagement with nature.
In an era where rural homes often hew to nostalgia, HiAven stands as something refreshingly different: a residence where the monumentality of modern architecture is tempered by the warmth of thoughtful design. It is a testament to what is possible when clarity of vision and respect for place guide every decision, resulting in a home that is both of its context and unmistakably of the present.
PHOTO CREDIT: Johan Dehlin, Michael Sinclair
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