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Architecture practice — Bristol

Buildings that age well.

14 600

Holm designs homes, workplaces and public buildings in timber, lime and brick — modest in carbon, generous in light, and built to be repaired rather than replaced.

Featured project

A family home on a steep, narrow plot. Three split levels follow the slope, so every room opens to the garden and the stair becomes the heart of the house.

Location
Bath, Somerset
Area
214 m²
Completed
2026
Structure
Cross-laminated timber
Drawing
+0.00−1.20−2.40
Coldharbour House — section, not to scale

Interior references for Coldharbour HousePhotographs of other buildings, collected for the brief. Not this house.

  • Timber roof boards and a deep beam framing a skylight

    Daylight from above, framed in timber

    Photo: Daniel Lorentzen / Unsplash
  • A long corridor of exposed timber posts and beams leading to a window

    Structure left visible

    Photo: rawkkim / Unsplash

Reading a site

Every project starts with precedents. Here is how we read one — five decisions that make a building belong where it stands.

A long, low timber-clad house with a single pitched roof sits among dune grass in front of a belt of tall pines
Precedent photograph by Matthew Buchanan / Unsplash. Not a Holm building.

  1. Shelter first

    The pine belt breaks the wind before it reaches the house, so the building itself can stay light.

  2. Under the canopy

    One low roof stays below the tree line. The house settles into the landscape instead of standing against it.

  3. Glass where the view is

    Long glazing faces the open ground, set back under the eaves so high summer sun is shaded.

  4. Boards that silver

    Untreated vertical timber, left to weather evenly — no paint to renew, nothing to peel.

  5. Ground left wild

    Dune grass runs up to the walls. No lawn to maintain, and the habitat stays where it was.

Material studies

We choose materials for how they will look in twenty years and how they are mended, not for the day of handover.

  • Close-up of pale, straight-grained timber boards

    Timber, new

    Ageing
    Darkens, then silvers within a few years outdoors.
    Repair
    Single boards replaced; no whole-wall work.
    Source
    Home-grown or certified, specified by species.
    Reference photo: Maria Kovalets / Unsplash
  • Close-up of grey-brown, weathered timber grain

    Timber, weathered

    Ageing
    This is the look we design for, not a defect to hide.
    Repair
    Sanded back or left; it keeps working either way.
    Source
    Reclaimed where the grade allows.
    Reference photo: engin akyurt / Unsplash
  • A grey wall with a rough, hand-applied plaster texture

    Plaster

    Ageing
    Lime finishes breathe and stay matt; hairline cracks heal over time.
    Repair
    Patched locally and limewashed to blend.
    Source
    Lime and local sand, mixed on site.
    Reference photo: Antoine Merour / Unsplash
  • A wall of mixed red, brown and dark bricks

    Brick

    Ageing
    Hardly at all — mortar is the part that weathers.
    Repair
    Repointed in lime, joint by joint.
    Source
    Reclaimed first; new only to match.
    Reference photo: Jakob Braun / Unsplash

Project index

Recent and current work. Full drawings available on request.

YearProjectTypeLocationStatus
2026Coldharbour HouseResidentialBathComplete
2026Wye Valley LibraryCulturalMonmouthOn site
2025Tannery Yard StudiosWorkplaceBristolComplete
2025Saltmarsh Bird HideLandscapeSevern EstuaryComplete
2024Kingsdown TerraceResidentialBristolComplete
2024Hill Farm BarnsAdaptive reuseMendip HillsPlanning

How we practise

  1. 01

    Build less, better

    The most sustainable building is often a smaller one. We start by questioning the brief.

  2. 02

    Materials that age well

    Timber, lime and brick that weather gracefully — and can be repaired, not replaced.

  3. 03

    Measured in use

    We return a year after handover to measure energy, comfort and what we’d change.