Wistow House is an ambitious new family home designed for a secluded rural site on the edge of Newton Harcourt, Leicestershire. Conceived in response to the exceptional design requirements of Paragraph 80 of the National Planning Policy Framework, the project combines contemporary architecture, landscape and environmental design to create a home that is both innovative and deeply rooted in its setting.

The architectural concept takes its cue from the traditional rural farmstead. Rather than reproducing local domestic architecture, three distinct building forms are grouped around a central courtyard, referencing the simple forms, materials and informal arrangement of agricultural buildings found throughout the surrounding landscape.

The house is carefully embedded within the natural topography, reducing its visual prominence and allowing the architecture to remain secondary to the wider landscape. Green roofs, native planting, new habitat and reinforced landscape boundaries further integrate the development with its rural surroundings while delivering significant ecological enhancement.

At its heart, Wistow House is an exploration of what a contemporary Paragraph 80 home can be: distinctive without being overt, informed by local character without imitation, and designed to demonstrate an exceptional standard of architecture, sustainability and landscape integration.