{"id":116800,"date":"2017-11-26T01:49:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T01:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/"},"modified":"2022-11-09T15:50:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T20:50:52","slug":"nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/","title":{"rendered":"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to delivering the unexpected, Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks, respectively 33 and 35 years old, have already developed a reputation. The pair transformed a tiny tile showroom in London with an installation of porcelain planks, playing cleverly with geometry in just four shades of gray to achieve a dazzling op art effect\u2014a tour de force that landed right on the cover of Interior Design<\/em>. Now, with a weekend house in Scotland, Nathanael Dorent Architecture<\/a> and Lily Jencks Studio<\/a> have defied expectation in very different ways.<\/p>\n

> Project Resources<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Constructed inside the ruined granite walls of a cottage more than 200 years old, the new house conforms to its predecessor\u2019s skinny dimensions, measuring 88 feet long by a mere 13 wide in some places. The interior is an explosion of invention, energy, and light. \u201cIt\u2019s about difference and otherness,\u201d Jencks says.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a multifaceted quality to much of Jencks\u2019s work, since she practices both architecture and landscaping. She also happens to be the client for this particular project. \u201cThat did give us a lot of freedom in terms of the design,\u201d Dorent says.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Synthetic rubber wraps the new construction including the roof. Photography by Sergio Pirrone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Dorent lives in Paris, Jencks is in London. The pair met at an architecture seminar in Philadelphia a decade ago, then reconnected later. They knew they wanted to work together. \u201cWe are both interested in collaboration, and we have complementary approaches,\u201d Dorent says. \u201cHers is more about art history and landscape. Mine is more scientific.\u201d Jencks also collaborates with her father, Charles<\/a>, the celebrated architect, landscape designer, and cultural theorist, in a partnership called JencksSquared<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ruined cottage was on farmland near her family\u2019s Dumfries estate, Portrack House, where her father created the 30-acre Garden of Cosmic Speculation. Back in 2010, the younger Jencks started thinking about building a house inside the ruins. By the time work began, however, she was married and had a child. She\u2019s since had a second.<\/p>\n

From the outset, plans called for a bedroom at each end, joined by a curvy communal space. This sculptural centerpiece, Jencks says, \u201cstarted out as a very extreme thing, with a sloping floor.\u201d In the end, though, practicality won out. \u201cWe came to a compromise about good living space,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are still ramps into the bedrooms, but the kitchen and sitting room\u2019s floor is flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Hans Wegner designed the kitchen\u2019s chairs. Photography by Sergio Pirrone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the sloping floor didn\u2019t make the final cut, other intellectual concepts did inform the project to its end. \u201cWe researched ideas of layering, the interaction of different typologies,\u201d Dorent says. The result, in more literal terms, is ancient stone walls surrounding a pitch-roofed box clad in conspicuously contemporary man-made black rubber. That envelope, in turn, contains a curvaceous white shell defining the 1,900-square-foot floor plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach layer is as different as possible. The impenetrable exterior, the soft interior\u2014you could say it\u2019s masculine and feminine,\u201d Jencks explains. \u201cWe talked about the interior as being like the internal organs of the body, too.\u201d Indeed, you could describe it as something like an alimentary canal. In yet another metaphor, the orthogonal outside and fluid inside reflect the surrounding countryside, which Jencks has known all her life: the straight lines of stone walls cutting across the rolling hills.<\/p>\n

The interior shell was designed digitally to generate a 3-D printed model. A company that makes complex works for artists, including Anish Kapoor<\/a>, then prefabricated full-scale sections from CNC-cut plywood sheets. Each section had to be small and lightweight enough for a two-person team to handle on-site, without a crane. \u201cWe devised everything at a human scale,\u201d Jencks says.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sconces by George Carwardine flank the bed in the master bedroom. Photography by Sergio Pirrone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For insulation and acoustics as well as to achieve the sculpted form, Styrofoam blocks were added in front of the plywood elements, then shaped by hand. Next came a rough coating of glass-reinforced plastic, painted white. \u201cInstead of a smooth finish, it has some materiality to not feel plastic-y,\u201d she continues. That sense of craft and humanity pervades the project.<\/p>\n

So does ecological sensitivity. Virtually off-the-grid, the house is making as little impact as possible on the unspoiled countryside stretching for miles. Water is piped in from a neighboring farm, and solar panels provide electric power. Besides, with the huge windows, the white surfaces, and the northern latitude, Jencks doesn\u2019t even need to turn on the lights until 10:00 PM in the summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A cast-iron and steel wood-burning stove heats the sitting room. Photography by Sergio Pirrone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

> Project Resources<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Project Team:<\/strong> Patricia Santos; Rebecca Otero; Laura Keenan: Lily Jencks Studio<\/a>. Savills<\/a>: Architect of Record. Asher Associates<\/a>; Nous Engineering<\/a>: Structural Engineers. Ab Hastings & Son<\/a>: Woodwork. MDM Props<\/a>: Interior Shell Workshop. Autumn Down<\/a>: Upholstery Workshop. Chalmers Construction<\/a>: General Contractor.<\/p>\n

> See more from the November 2017 issue of Interior Design<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3590,"featured_media":149148,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"featured_image_focal_point":[],"legacy_django_id":14123},"tags":[],"id_tax_domain":[155,16],"id_tax_product":[],"id_tax_program":[],"id_issue":[],"internal_flag":[4220],"class_list":["post-116800","id_project","type-id_project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","id_tax_domain-homes","id_tax_domain-residential"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles - Interior Design<\/title>\n <!-- Mirrored from interiordesign.net/wp-json/wp/v2/id_project/116800 by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2014], Fri, 18 Apr 2025 21:00:20 GMT --> <!-- Added by HTTrack --><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /><!-- /Added by HTTrack --> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=_-352.html \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles - Interior Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Interior Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/InteriorDesignMagazine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-09T20:50:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@InteriorDesign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/\",\"name\":\"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles - Interior Design\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-26T01:49:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-09T20:50:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":550},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/\",\"name\":\"Interior Design\",\"description\":\"The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#\/schema\/person\/dbe120fa59e51a3e4a9f3b8386b2957b\",\"name\":\"Caroline Roux\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a47dd3e71617ddd999485b4cb9256525?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a47dd3e71617ddd999485b4cb9256525?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Caroline Roux\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/author\/carolineroux\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles - Interior Design","description":"Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles - Interior Design","og_description":"Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.","og_url":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/","og_site_name":"Interior Design","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/InteriorDesignMagazine\/","article_modified_time":"2022-11-09T20:50:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":550,"url":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@InteriorDesign","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/","url":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/","name":"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles - Interior Design","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg","datePublished":"2017-11-26T01:49:15+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-09T20:50:52+00:00","description":"Nathanael Dorent helps Lily Jencks conceive a house near the Scottish estate of her esteemed architect father, Charles.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/nathanael-dorent-lily-jencks-weekend-house-granite-remains-1117-hero.jpg","width":1170,"height":550},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nathanael-dorent-and-lily-jencks-conceive-stone-clad-house-near-the-estate-of-her-father-charles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nathanael Dorent and Lily Jencks Conceive Stone-Clad House Near the Estate of Her Father, Charles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/","name":"Interior Design","description":"The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#\/schema\/person\/dbe120fa59e51a3e4a9f3b8386b2957b","name":"Caroline Roux","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a47dd3e71617ddd999485b4cb9256525?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a47dd3e71617ddd999485b4cb9256525?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Caroline Roux"},"url":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/author\/carolineroux\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/id_project\/116800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/id_project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/id_project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116800"},{"taxonomy":"id_tax_domain","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/id_tax_domain?post=116800"},{"taxonomy":"id_tax_product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/id_tax_product?post=116800"},{"taxonomy":"id_tax_program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/id_tax_program?post=116800"},{"taxonomy":"id_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/id_issue?post=116800"},{"taxonomy":"internal_flag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_flag?post=116800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}