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De Matos Ryan Architects

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08/05/2026

We are delighted that the Pavilion has been awarded

2026 UK RIBA South West and Wessex Award
2026 UK RIBA South West and Wessex Conservation Award

‘At Cowley Manor, De Matos Ryan has delivered a project of remarkable confidence, restraint, and craft – one that demonstrates how listed buildings can evolve without nostalgia or pastiche.

Rather than attempt restoration to a single moment in time, the architects have embraced the building’s layered history and added a new chapter. The new bedroom pavilion, replacing a disused former swimming pool structure, sits quietly yet confidently in the landscape.
Constructed from a Douglas fir frame and load-bearing Cotswold stone shell sourced from a nearby quarry, it is both rooted and contemporary. The scalloped stonework offers a subtle, playful response to the listed building and parkland setting.

This is not a slavish reproduction of the past but an assured continuation of it – bold yet modest, innovative yet grounded. It sets its own design agenda for this generation, demonstrating how heritage can be sustained through thoughtful evolution, material intelligence, and architectural generosity. The project is the result of a long-term relationship between an architect and a building that extends back over 25 years, and is delivered with deep understanding, care, commitment and craft.

Jury members were all deeply impressed by the project architect’s depth of knowledge, layered understanding of the building, and skilful deployment of appropriate structural and material technologies to create something uniquely of its time, yet embedded in the sense of history and place.’

Thank you to all involved in the judging and the making of this project. The renewal taking place at Cowley Manor is the result of working with a fantastic client fantastic team:

Client
Architecture
Interior Design
Structure
Services
QS
Structural Timber
Natural stone
Photos

04/05/2026

We often say that it is the people we meet and the journeys we go on. Our wonderful client, Martin & Jaime, said afterwards :

‘Working with De Matos Ryan on our house was a genuinely enjoyable and collaborative experience - and we now have a house we LOVE living in.

From the outset, they took the time to understand how we actually live - how we use our space, what we enjoy, who comes to stay - right down to the details of our family life and even our dogs.

What stood out was the combination of practicality and imagination. They brought a real sensitivity around space, light, materials and textures, alongside an extraordinary level of detail - from lighting and switch placement to storage, tiles, kitchen flow and even bins. It was a rare balance of elevated ambition and genuine attention to the thoroughly practical.

De Matos Ryan was fully attentive to our tastes, but occasionally also gently guided us towards decisions we wouldn’t have made on our own - all of which we now value every day.

They also helped us anchor the design around pieces we loved - including finding the perfect sofa for us and designing around that and our gigantic dining table to make the living space feel open, comfortable and easy to live in.

Beyond the core design, De Matos Ryan connected us with excellent collaborators across renewables, interiors and garden design, and stayed closely involved throughout. They were consistently present on site, worked tirelessly, and remained flexible and pragmatic around budget. We always felt aligned in our sense of what was worth investing in - essentially what is practical, beautiful and offers real long-term value.

Perhaps most importantly, the process was fun. We explored ideas widely, took the time to get things right, and made decisions with confidence. It was thoughtful and thorough, but always enjoyable - and often hilarious.

We began the project as old friends, and finished it as even better ones - which probably says everything’.

📸

Textiles

03/05/2026

Front, middle & back: in praise of bungalows!

If this typology is detailed well, they can often outperform taller or more complex building forms. For one thing, their large roof expanse allows for a generous photovoltaic array which, in combination with battery storage, supports the electrical needs of the ground source heat pump and mechanical ventilation heat recovery system in a virtuous net zero loop of energy.

Bungalows typically have a simple shape, which reduces the total external surface area relative to the internal space. Fewer corners, junctions, and complex rooflines mean less heat loss through walls & roofs and fewer thermal bridges (weak points where heat escapes). On account of everything being on one level, insulation can be installed more coherently and continuously... and it is easier to achieve good airtightness without dealing with multiple floors, stairwells, and structural penetrations.

In multi-storey buildings, warm air rises, often overheating upper floors while leaving lower floors cooler. In a bungalow heat distribution is more even. Less energy is wasted trying to balance temperatures between levels.

Bungalows typically also have more roof and wall exposure per room, making it easier to orient living spaces toward the sun and incorporate larger windows. This can reduce reliance on heating during the winter with low sun but also conversely a roof overhang reduces the solar gain during the summer with higher sun.

Bungalows typically also have simpler services and systems, whereby heating, ventilation, and plumbing systems are usually shorter and less complex, leading to less heat loss from pipe runs and more efficient operation of systems like underfloor heating or ventilation.

Amusingly, when the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) accessor called, they said that they had to re-run their calculations three times as the project had achieved the highest score that they had ever audited! We had apparently missed out on one point and the only way to gain that would have been to have had a wind turbine in the garden!

📸

Back garden studio by the very brilliant

02/05/2026

Tackling climate change and cost are directly aligned. And everyone wants to reduce their costs, right? The low hanging fruit to achieve this are to do simple things well. This means focusing on insulation & airtightness in the detailing of the building fabric, but it also means the rejection of fossil fuels in favour of renewables. With current global events as they are, there is no better time than now to bang this drum even harder.

As an industry, we rightly obsess with energy and carbon calculations but actually another measure is what our clients tell us afterwards. Their energy bills compared to their neighbours. Their ability to run their electric vehicles with home-made energy. A garden irrigation and WC water system that runs from harvested rainwater. It feels good to them.

With the encouragement of a supportive and enthusiastic client, we threw the kitchen sink at Nicholas Road in the pursuit of that holy grail of creating a self-sufficient home : the truly virtuous circle of photovoltaic panels and battery storage in support of a low energy home with a ground source heat pump and mechanical ventilation heat recovery system.

The house sits within a mid-1960s suburban street of bungalows, which is perhaps typical of Britain and is therefore an interesting case study for the way ahead. If this typology is detailed well, they can often outperform taller or more complex building forms.

📸

Textiles

21/04/2026

We are absolutely delighted that .vam has been hailed as offering children “a message of hope for the future” when being awarded the 2026 Museum prize. The ceremony was held in Strasbourg in front of parliamentarians from across the continent.

The prize, awarded annually since 1977 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, honours museums that bridge cultures, promote democratic values or broaden visitors’ understanding in fresh ways. Recent winners include Euskararen Etxea, the house of Basque language in Bilbao, Spain (2025), the Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok, Poland (2024), and the Workers Museum in Copenhagen (2023).

Presenting the award, Parliamentary Assembly President Petra Bayr said the Young V&A was “clearly an outstanding museum in terms of its mission”. By providing experiences that can help children and young people embrace the future with confidence and creativity, it carried “a strong message of hope for the future. .vam is approaching their 2 millionth visitor and had a bumper year 2025/2026 welcoming 642,300 against a target of 574,000.

14/04/2026

Shop window, Abergavenny

02/04/2026

The Pavilion at Cowley Manor has been shortlisted for an Award 2026, one of 17 projects to be considered in this region.

The design follows a low-tech, simple-is-best approach, prioritising low embodied energy, reduced carbon footprint, and locally sourced materials while minimising overall material use.

Structural elements are optimised for efficient load performance. Existing materials and infrastructure are refurbished and repurposed to reduce waste. All materials and methods were selected for durability, maintainability, and recyclability.

Cotswold stone, quarried three miles away, is a low-energy, self-finished, and self-supporting exterior material. Historic terrace stonework was carefully restored using best-practice conservation techniques.

Douglas fir frames were prefabricated using traditional and modern methods, enabling rapid on-site assembly in two weeks. Once enclosed, internal and external works progressed simultaneously, reducing programme time.

The Pavilion is powered by air-source heat pumps, with high insulation, airtightness, and natural ventilation via clerestory windows. Low-energy systems, heat recovery ventilation, efficient lighting, and water-saving fittings further reduce energy demand and operational emissions.

Thank you to a fantastic team:

Client
Architecture
Structure
Services
QS
Structural Timber
Natural stone
Interior Design
Photos

22/11/2025

Last night saw the wonderful opening of very brilliant Clive Gwrach/Witch 'A Fairy Tale Retold' exhibition at 's relaunch after extensive capital redevelopment.

Nothing quite beats seeing an arts organisation spring back to life after a long building project, watching the community that surrounds it return with such enthusiasm amd energy. We often say that it is as much about the people we meet as the work itself. That journey we go on together. The challenges met. The things that we learn and the stories that we can then tell afterwards. And the extraordinary communities that projects like this serve. We are going to miss coming to Carmarthen!

The project has involved the refurbishment of the original Grade 2 listed School or Art and its extension into a previous bakery building on King Street. Linking these buildings has offered the opportunity to develop dedicated community studios and exhibition space to a government indemnity standard as part of initiative than has identified ten arts organisations across Wales to be outposts of the national collection. What a fantastic idea that is!

With special thanks and congratulations to and all the OM trustess... To .colhoun and all at The Art Council of Wales for their support and funding... To Wayne, Jane, Dave, Andrew & Jason and all at Carmarthen County Council , for their support & funding ...To Wyn, Paul & Rob at who did a brilliant job at building it and keeping everything on budget....Rachael for her advice on access & inclusive design... To for BREEAM ....
To Andy, Charlotte & Sean . And to Aled at and Will at for our collaboration on new storefront that we developed together as part of the Arts Council's '1% for Public Art' initiative. (Will told me last night that there were 33,000 spot welds 🤯!) Amd finally mot forgetting who help instigate everything at the beginning... 8years ago!

24/09/2025

The Pavilion at Cowley Manor was recognised at the AJ Retrofit and Reuse Awards 2025.

‘The judges were hugely impressed by De Matos Ryan’s five bedroom extension at the Grade ii-listed Cowley Manor in Gloucestershire, which creates a refined but characterful timber and masonry pavilion on the site of what was once the Grand Ballroom, dating from 1900. In Particular, they admired the ‘beautiful detail’ of the scheme and the practice’s ‘common sense’ use of local Cotswold stone and sustainably sourced and UK-grown Douglas Fir.’ (The Grand Ballroom was demolished in 1928)

Another highly enjoyable collaboration for us with and

Client
Architecture
Interior Design
Photos

# timberhotel

13/09/2025

We are delighted to be joining Mima and the Science Museum Group in conversation to discuss our experience designing museums, galleries and exhibitions which are welcoming, accessible and people centred.

Please join Anat on Tues 16th September, where she will be sharing our studio’s insights on the importance of lived experience engagement, what makes an exhibition truly inclusive, and why it should matter to us all.

When you design with people at the centre, you create more meaningful experiences. Human-centred design thinking has the power to transform the spaces, systems, and environments we interact with every day, and this webinar brings together brilliant minds to explore how.

Tues 16th September, 12.30pm (BST)
What makes an exhibition truly inclusive, and why it matters.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Series info here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ee9N22jt
Episode 1 sign up 👉 https://lnkd.in/evdrYbvY

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