Jackson Design Studio has completed a striking copper-clad extension for a 19th-century Sussex home known as Hops House, originally built as a brewery. The contemporary addition represents what the architects call a "new generation of architecture," deliberately contrasting with the property's mixed historical styles while creating modern living spaces for the family.
The historic Hops House presents an interesting architectural puzzle, with its front facade displaying traditional Georgian symmetry while the rear features a patchwork of mock-Georgian and Edwardian elements from various renovations over the decades. Rather than attempting to unify these disparate styles, Jackson Design Studio founder Alex Jackson chose to embrace the property's evolutionary character.
"The temptation might have been to remodel the rear of the property to create a unified Georgian house," Jackson explained. "We instead decided to add a new generation of architecture to the house's various extensions, enhancing its growth over the years as part of the property's identity. Alongside creating a space that would meet the family's needs, we wanted to extend the house in a way that acknowledged its past iterations whilst unlocking the property for the next phase of its lifespan."
The design team selected copper as the primary exterior material for both practical and aesthetic reasons. The metal's natural longevity and distinctive oxidation process create visual interest that changes over time, developing deep petrol blue tones and rusty reds that complement the existing Flemish bond brick pattern of the original structure. Jackson noted an additional symbolic connection: "It also has a connection back to the property's brewing past, as there would likely have been copper brewing vessels there."
The extension's architectural form features a stepped roof design that follows the horizontal expression of the original house. Oak planking lines the underside of this stepped roof, creating warmth in the interior spaces. At the center of the roof, the architects installed a triangular skylight that floods the living area below with natural light.
Expansive glass pocket doors have been strategically placed on both sides of the extension, addressing a key client concern about the property's previously awkward positioning. These doors redirect sight lines away from boundary hedges toward the garden and surrounding mature oak trees, creating a stronger connection with the landscape. To enhance this relationship with nature, the studio also planted new fruit trees in the garden and inserted patches of greenery between the reclaimed patio floor pavers.
The interior of the extension houses a comprehensive kitchen, living room, and dining area. The living space is anchored by a distinctive mustard-yellow velvet sofa positioned directly beneath the central skylight, facing a fireplace with a textured stone surround that adds visual drama to the space. Behind the sofa, a large wooden dining table sits atop a patterned rug, creating a distinct dining zone within the open-plan layout.
The kitchen occupies the rear portion of the extension, featuring custom timber cabinetry paired with striking veiny white marble countertops. This combination of natural materials reinforces the extension's connection to both the historic character of the house and its contemporary additions.
This copper extension represents the second phase of Jackson Design Studio's work on the property, following a comprehensive interior overhaul of the main house completed in 2023. That earlier intervention included the creation of a basement cinema and renovations to the boot room, utility room, and kitchenette, demonstrating the studio's holistic approach to updating historic properties for modern living.
Jackson Design Studio, established in 2020, joins a growing number of architectural practices utilizing copper in residential projects. The Hops House extension shares material connections with other notable copper-clad homes, including Saltmarsh House by Niall McLaughlin Architects, which features a pyramidal copper roof, and Mesh House by Alison Brooks Architects, distinguished by its oxidized copper shingle facade. The photography documenting the completed project was captured by Beth Davis, showcasing how contemporary materials and traditional architecture can create compelling dialogues between past and present.
