Sharrow Bay Hotel
Feilden Fowles Architects are leading the design to revitalise the UK’s first country house hotel situated on the eastern shore of Lake Ullswater in Cumbria. Originally built as a Victorian grand mansion house, Sharrow Bay Hotel was converted into a hotel in the mid-twentieth century, playing a key role in the development of domestic tourism in the region. Following its recent closure during the Covid-19 pandemic, the project seeks to re-establish Sharrow Bay Hotel as a fine dining destination and luxury stay, while prioritising the conservation and enhancement of the site’s unique qualities and position within the English Lake District, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Central to the scheme is the ambition to most effectively utilise the existing building stock to minimise the embodied carbon associated with the development and preserve the landscape composition of the sensitive site. The proposed masterplan includes the restoration of the hotel’s tired Mansion House and Garden Rooms Wing alongside the conversion of the site’s dilapidated stable block and walled kitchen garden bothies and stores.
The project’s main architectural intervention consists of a new purpose built spa and wellness facility embedded into the bank of the site’s steeply sloping topography. The hotel’s offerings are further expanded by a series of alternative guest accommodation units in the form of low-lying cabins tucked within the site’s walled garden and orchard, and more remote ‘treehouses’ nestled into the edge of the existing deciduous woodland. Taking cues from Ullswater vernacular buildings, the new buildings will comprise of a combination of solid load-bearing rubblestone walls and timber frame construction, with timber locally sourced from forests adjacent to the site. Where possible, stone will be reused from demolished buildings on site, and topped up with spare fieldstone and shoreline pickings from the estate.
The project’s six hectare site comprises of a blend of ornamental gardens, shoreline habitats, and deciduous woodlands set within a parkland setting and backdrop of dramatic fells. Working alongside garden designer, Kirsty Ramage, the proposals include groundworks and built interventions to mediate the site’s steep existing levels and provide equal access across the hotel’s varied landscape, opening up the gardens for all to enjoy.
The proposed development will generate more than 30% of its operational energy through decentralised, district heating and, renewable and low-carbon energy sources. Namely, ground source heat pumps are set to supply heating and hot water production which are supplemented by ground mounted PV panels and off-peak energy stores to further reduce electricity demands.
Subject to planning approval, Sharrow Bay will reopen its doors in 2025.
