koto at brooks green house
Cobwebs Cottage is a four-bedroom timber dwelling in Brooks Green, West Sussex. Designed as five modular volumes, the single-storey house is rotated on its plot to create sheltered garden zones and maximise views south across open fields.
Clad in black charred timber, the house quietly recalls the area’s agricultural vernacular, allowing it to recede into the surrounding hedgerows and trees. Inside, light-filled living spaces balance openness and privacy, while flexible planning and level access ensure long-term adaptability.
A modern interpretation of rural architecture, the home reflects Koto’s core values of sustainability, sensitivity to landscape, and respect for local character.
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By rotating the modular volumes on the plot, the house creates distinct garden zones, opens to southern views, and makes the arrival sequence more dynamic — a design move that strengthens its relationship with the land.
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Delivered as five prefabricated modules, the home minimises site disruption and reduces embodied carbon.
This modular approach also ensures efficiency, precision, and long-term environmental performance.
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Clad in dark, charred timber, the house recedes into hedgerows and shadow, softening its presence in the landscape and preserving long views across the fields.
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A single-storey plan ensures accessibility for all ages, balancing open-plan family spaces with intimate rooms for work, rest, and retreat — a home designed to evolve with its occupants.
shaped by the landscape
Set among hedgerows and fields, Cobwebs Cottage shows how architecture can belong to the land while offering calm, adaptable spaces for living. The following principles guided its design — from the orientation of the house to its construction and long-term use.
Photography by Justyna Kulam.