From Iron Age Fort to Regency Marvel: Revisiting Camp End Manor
Back in 2012, the LA London team was asked to design a new Regency-style home in the prestigious St George’s Hill private estate in Weybridge, on the site of what was once an Iron Age fort. The award-winning house, Camp End Manor, features an elegant basement spa, a floating stone staircase – and ample roof space for the resident bats! Managing Partner Andrew Paulson has been looking back on this extraordinary project.
A Regency Dream
The exclusive 964-acre St George’s Hill estate was built by master developer W.G. Tarrant in 1910 as a ‘gentleman’s refuge’ within easy reach of London. Private, picturesque, and close to excellent schools, it soon became the rural retreat of choice for wealthy professionals, overseas investors, and celebrities, notably musicians. The Beatles even bought houses there in the 1960s.
The estate has over 450 houses on large plots of land surrounding one of the country’s best golf courses, and its appearance and development are overseen by the St George’s Hill Residents’ Association.
Our client, developer Werner Capital, had three other projects underway on the estate at that time. Having seen our renovation of 1 Cornwall Terrace, a beautiful Regency-era townhouse originally designed by Decimus Burton and John Nash, they asked us to prepare a Regency-style proposal for their newest project. LA founder, John Lees produced a concept design for an elegant new home in the Regency style, and LA London was appointed as architects and lead consultant.
The expansive grounds at Camp End Manor, with the ground dropping steeply to the left where the ramparts of the old fort are still evident.
Conservation Concerns
Before we could commence work, there were two key challenges to overcome. Firstly: bats. Just as we were about to begin demolishing the existing property, a bat was spotted flying out from underneath a roof tile. Bats are a protected species, which meant we needed to commission a bat survey. The demolition was due to start in autumn, but the survey could only take place in May, June and July, when bats are more active. This regrettably delayed the start of the project by over six months.
Sure enough, during the survey the ecologist spotted another lone bat, which meant adapting our design to include new bat houses around the site, special accessible tiles, and enough clear roof space for awakening bats to fly in circles.
An aerial shot of Camp End Manor showing its elevated position and its deck projecting out over the old ramparts.
Secondly, the size of the house was restricted by the residents’ association’s stipulation that houses in St George’s Hill can have a gross internal area no greater than 20% of the plot on which they stand, and be no higher than 10.5m above ground level. The restriction excludes subterranean development though, so our design instead proposed to dig a substantial lower-ground floor to accommodate a swimming pool and spa facilities.
However, the historical importance of the Iron Age site meant that an archaeologist had to be on site to oversee the excavation, which again delayed the start of the build. It was a relief therefore that no ancient relics were discovered, probably because it was only a wooden fort with no masonry foundations.
A very special staircase
One of the most important features of our design was a spiral staircase that ran through the centre of the house, connecting all three floors. This 270-degree stair would these days typically be built in reinforced concrete with ply formworkand clad in stone. But concrete stairs are quite chunky and inelegant; we wanted a cleaner, simpler design, with as thin a waist as possible like a traditional solid stone cantilevered stair, with the added benefit that this would also allow more light to infiltrate the lower-ground floor.
We worked with the Stonemasonry Company, who specialise in traditional cantilevered stone stairs, and structural engineer Webb Yates, who between them had developed a concept of post-tensioned stone stairs. The load from each stone tread is carried down to the next, just liked a cantilevered stair, but – incredibly – without a restraining wall. I had seen this concept working on straight flights and asked if we could try it on a spiral flight, surprised when the answer was ‘in theory, yes’!
The floating stone staircase at Camp End Manor.
The helical ‘floating’ stair works by having a steel cable threaded through a hole drilled into the spine, which is tensioned hydraulically to eliminate any twisting and consequential wobbling. After extensive modelling and testing, we had created the first 270-degree solid stone floating staircase of its kind.
This was not only a beautiful solution, but a cost-effective one too. The stonemason simply carved 30 individual stair treads out of stone – we didn’t need complex formwork or scaffolding, or bulky concrete shipped from overseas, which would then still have had to be clad in stone.
Lighting the lower floor
With such a large proportion of the house below ground, we were keen to introduce ample daylight throughout the space.
Our design featured a large circular roof light over the spiral staircase, which allows natural light to filter through from top to bottom, with a central chandelier illuminating the space further. We included another circular roof light in the middle of the rear terrace above the spa area to flood the pool and spa with daylight. With so much natural light entering both ends of the basement space, it’s hard to believe you’re below ground.
The light-filled lower-ground floor.
Period design, built to last
Although the design of Camp End Manor is highly faithful to the Regency period, we also incorporated modern sustainability measures to ensure the house lasts long into the future. There are PV solar panels on the roof, and the walls are externally wrapped in a 130mm-layer of insulation, which helps to keep the whole home warm year-round. We also installed heat pumps for energy supply.
Adjoining reception rooms, furnished by Linley.
Working with the client, we also designed all the interior joinery, kitchens and bathrooms, while luxury British home decor company Linley provided loose furniture and decoration, including artwork and wall finishes.
“You have designed a beautiful house – we love Camp End Manor. It is beautiful and I can’t help but stare at the staircase every time I am there - it is amazing!”
Awards and accolades
The vision, ingenuity and attention to detail shown by the LA team and our partners were rewarded with two prestigious awards. The project won gold in the Best Luxury Home category at the What House? Awards, and Best Residential Property over £20 million at the International Design Awards.
The What House? judges commented, ‘Camp End Manor captures the essence of Regency elegance on the highest plot on St George's Hill. Standing in 1.4 acres with views that stretch for miles, this substantial home of 15,000ft² revels in its setting and maximises views in every direction from the core of the property. Here, an elliptical floating staircase, finished in French limestone and attached only at floor and ceiling levels, swirls up to the first floor and down to the basement leisure suite. Exclusively designed and engineered for Camp End Manor, it was constructed on a supporting brick structure, which was subsequently removed, resulting in an engineering wonder that is aesthetically stunning.’
Andrew Paulson and Daniel Mateos of Werner Capital with the Internatial Design & Architecture award.
The house was subsequently purchased by a private English individual, who was similarly enamoured with her new home, saying, ‘You have designed a beautiful house – we love Camp End Manor. It is beautiful and I can’t help but stare at the staircase every time I am there - it is amazing!’
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