‘Remarkable’ NI home named UK House of the Year

House Lessans, a three-bedroom property with white rendered, concrete walls, was built on the site of a former farmstead.

The L-shaped property is located in the rolling countryside in Co Down.

Judges for the RIBA House of the Year 2019 said House Lessans cost £1,425 a square metre, totalling £335,000 to build, “a remarkable achievement for a newly built home of this scale”.

RIBA president Alan Jones said: “House Lessans demonstrates that life-enhancing architecture does not have to cost the earth ...

“Even with the tightest of budgets, House Lessans shows that a dream home, designed by a talented architect, can be a reality.”

Sylvia and Michael, the owners of the property, said they stuck with one bathroom because there would be less cleaning, despite some people saying they should have more.

“It is a joy to live in – from seeing the soaring bedroom ceiling on wakening, being surrounded by the gentle landscape in the kitchen during the day, to enjoying the sunset in the top room,” they said.

Architect Kieran McGonigle, of the firm McGonigle McGrath, said the house “we hope, extends our understanding of how to make buildings in our countryside”.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) presents the award to the UK’s best new architect-designed house.

House Lessans was revealed as the winner in the final episode of a special Channel 4 series, Grand Designs: House Of The Year, which was broadcast tonight.