Tuckey Design Studio was approached by the client to re-appropriate a converted chapel to accommodate their new permanent family home. The Old Chapel stands within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The site area measures approximately 520 square metres; low exposed stone walls define the edges of the property separating it from the main road and adjacent buildings on the southwest side.

Built in the first half of the 20th century, the Old Chapel was converted into a dwelling in the 1970s, with a series of interventions added in the 90s, the majority of which hold no historic or architectural value.

Through a series of thoughtful interventions, the project looks to uncover the original character of the chapel and create a more appropriate and characterful space.

Tuckey Design Studio first removed the earlier additions from the ’90s and reinstated the former north entrance to the chapel as the main stair hall, allowing for a more fluid circulation throughout the whole space, and between the living spaces on the first floor and bedrooms on the ground floor.

New alterations to the former chapel building were minimal, including the introduction of a new extension positioned between the southwest corner of the chapel and the stone boundary wall. The remodeled single-story volume enlarges the ground floor space of the chapel whilst creating a terrace accessible from the first floor. A new patio fills the ground-floor bedrooms with natural light and creates a calm outdoor space full of vegetation.

Internally, Tuckey Design Studio redesigned the layout of the ground floor to make space for 4 bedrooms and bathrooms with an ecclesiastic feel, a calm material palette, and niches within plastered walls to increase storage space.

The grand open plan of the chapel at the first-floor level was designed to host a living room, dining, and kitchen where the whole family can gather. An additional ensuite bedroom was added in the attic space, a timber box was inserted above the kitchen and behind the chapel stone arched wall – a reminder of a wooden choir/pulpit structure.