11 hours Ago By [email protected] (Joanne Ridout)
Constructing your new dream home has so much to do with location and the landscape that surrounds the site including its topography, it can and arguably should inform the design of the property to create as seamless a link to the land as possible. If there’s an incredible view to provide an anchor towards which the home is desperate to engage then these elements become the cornerstones of an architect’s designs for your new dwelling, and that’s exactly what happened with the birth of a stunning new home called Croes Fach. The now completed new abode is nestled within the Bannau Brechiniog Brecon Beacons National Park and its unique and distinctive design has been recognised and shortlisted by the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) for the organisation’s 2025 awards.
For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here READ MORE: Remote rural dream home with 360 panoramic views to die for YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: The Welsh town named one of the coolest postcodes in the UK Croes Fach can boast an enviable location within the rolling rural scenery of the national park with a view of the Sugar Loaf mountain as an instantly recognisable geographical reference point. The property has been designed by Chepstow based company Hall + Bednarczyk Architects, whose past commercial projects have included The Welsh Water Visitor Centre at Llandegfedd Reservoir, Monmouthshire and residential homes such as The Hidden House near Monmouth and Blue Door within the Wye Valley. According to the architect practice, landscape has always played a crucial role in the development of Hall + Bednarczyk’s designs but Croes Fach was of particular interest.
The company states that building a new house in such a protected location is a rare privilege, and they savoured the opportunity to place a new element alongside the famous Sugar Loaf mountain. The form of Croes Fach was a distillation of several key factors – the position of key surrounding landforms, the path of the sun, the detailed topography of the site, and the ambitions of the clients to raise their young family in a location of remarkable beauty. In May 2019 the practice announced they had been granted planning permission by Brecon Beacons National Park Authority for a new dwelling to replace a ‘nondescript 1950s house that had been extended, often quite awkwardly, by generations of owners’.
The new house would create five bedrooms, as well as an independent ground floor annex with living space and kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Responding to a sloping site, the two storey property was arranged to allow both floors of accommodation to step out directly onto terraced outdoor spaces within a sheltered garden. Placing key living spaces on the upper floor introduced panoramic views of the Sugar Loaf, establishing an ever-changing fourth wall as a key element of the family’s day.
The quality of the site was such that a design was developed with the aim of wholeheartedly celebrating its dramatic outlook. Relocating the building’s footprint adjacent to the highest spot in the garden opened up unbroken views of Sugar Loaf’s ridgeline and enabled the placement of open-plan living spaces on the upper floor, while maintaining their direct physical links to the garden. A tall stone chimney marks the transition from the open-plan living space to a cozy snug at the upper floor and also creates a pivot point in the plan where the ground floor axis shifts to address the garden, while the upper floor aligns with the best view of Sugar Loaf’s ridge.
Choice of materials within this landscape was carefully considered too with the architects keen to create ‘simple shard-like volumes of stone, cedar, glass, steel and zinc’. In December 2023 more photos and information was posted to the company’s Instagram account saying, ‘we are delighted to show a selection of photographs of Croes Fach now that it has been completed. Croes Fach’s angular form splays to capture the panoramic views of the Sugar Loaf that are afforded from the upper levels of the site.
The post continued, ‘the dwelling nestles into the sloped site, with a more solid ground floor that places bedrooms to open onto the lower, private garden. Transitioning to the first floor, a more transparent mono-pitched form captures the stunning views that form the backdrop to the first floor open plan living accommodation. Connected by a link, is an annex that provides additional accommodation for the family’.
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