{"id":771573,"date":"2025-01-23T06:49:51","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T06:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=771573"},"modified":"2025-01-24T12:16:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T12:16:52","slug":"benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Hale and Co&#038;Co&#8217;s conversion of WWII watchtower to home wins planning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\">The tower sits on an exposed headland in Wales, overlooking the Bristol channel. The architect will add an additional storey with a \u2018lookout terrace\u2019 and a rear extension.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Externally, the main structure will be wrapped in a corrugated metal \u2018blanket\u2019 to aid insulation. Its board-marked concrete interior will be left exposed.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The rear extension, connected via the original concrete staircase, will add further bedrooms and living\u00a0space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">The practice had previously designed a large house for the site, which would have replaced the tower. Its client then sold the site in 2022 and the new owner kept the practice on, commissioning the current conversion scheme.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Practice founder Benjamin Hale, who worked at Stanton Williams and Loyn &amp; Co before setting up his own practice, said the watchtower design \u2018seeks to conserve the utilitarian charm of the original structure while transforming it into a modern home that reflects the historical significance, natural beauty and romantic character of its surroundings\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_771606\" class=\" wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1717px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-771606\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-scaled.webp 1707w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-733x1100.webp 733w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-800x1200.webp 800w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-1024x1536.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-1365x2048.webp 1365w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-153x230.webp 153w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22142916\/330A1277-100x150.webp 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Existing watchtower building<\/p>\n\t<p class=\"inline_image_source\" style=\"max-width: 1717px;\">Source:Han Wang<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Project data<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Location:<\/strong>\u00a0St Mary\u2019s Well Bay Road, Lavernock, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, CF64 5UJ<br \/>\n<strong>Local Authority:\u00a0<\/strong>Vale of Glamorgan<br \/>\n<strong>Type of Project:\u00a0<\/strong>Residential<br \/>\n<strong>Client:\u00a0<\/strong>Private<br \/>\n<strong>Landscape Architect:\u00a0<\/strong>Kirsty Dougall<br \/>\n<strong>Quantity Surveyor<\/strong>: Quantiv<br \/>\n<strong>Planning:<\/strong> December 2024<br \/>\n<strong>Tender Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Spring 2025<br \/>\n<strong>Gross Internal Area:\u00a0<\/strong>180m<sup>2<br \/>\n<\/sup><strong>Annual CO2 emissions:\u00a0<\/strong>300 kg CO\u2082e\/year projected<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_771636\" class=\" wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 733px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-771636\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22145344\/axonometric.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"723\" height=\"887\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22145344\/axonometric.webp 723w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22145344\/axonometric-245x300.webp 245w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22145344\/axonometric-187x230.webp 187w, https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22145344\/axonometric-122x150.webp 122w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Axonometric<\/p>\n\t<p class=\"inline_image_source\" style=\"max-width: 733px;\"><p class=\"empty_inline_source\"><\/p><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tower sits on an exposed headland in Wales, overlooking the Bristol channel. The architect will add an additional storey with a \u2018lookout terrace\u2019 and a rear extension. Externally, the main structure will be wrapped in a corrugated metal \u2018blanket\u2019 to aid insulation. Its board-marked concrete interior will be left exposed.\u00a0 The rear extension, connected &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138919,"featured_media":771583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[101477,1378,101478,1310,1542],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Benjamin Hale and Co&amp;Co&#039;s conversion of WWII watchtower to home wins planning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cardiff practice Benjamin Hale Architects, working with Anthony Cowan of Co&amp;Co Architects, has won approval to convert a wartime watchtower near Cardiff into a Passivhaus-standard family home\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benjamin Hale and Co&amp;Co&#039;s conversion of WWII watchtower to home wins planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cardiff practice Benjamin Hale Architects, working with Anthony Cowan of Co&amp;Co Architects, has won approval to convert a wartime watchtower near Cardiff into a Passivhaus-standard family home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-23T06:49:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-24T12:16:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/01\/22120409\/136_BH_Lavernock-House_C18_241031-1024x768.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Highfield\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Highfield\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning\",\"name\":\"Benjamin Hale and Co&Co's conversion of WWII watchtower to home wins planning\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-23T06:49:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-24T12:16:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/a0c53f8ef918e29ea9d62857f8525eb3\"},\"description\":\"Cardiff practice Benjamin Hale Architects, working with Anthony Cowan of Co&amp;Co Architects, has won approval to convert a wartime watchtower near Cardiff into a Passivhaus-standard family home\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/benjamin-hales-conversion-of-wwii-watchtower-to-home-wins-planning#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Benjamin Hale and Co&#038;Co&#8217;s conversion of WWII watchtower to home wins planning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News &amp; 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