Located in the medieval citadel of Rye in East Sussex is St. John Rye, a detached house remodeled from a former ambulance station. Nowicka, an interior architect, had been visiting the town for 20 years.
The building was a former ambulance station built by the St. John Ambulance Association in the 1950s.
Nowicka purchased the property in 2013, but the project was beset by hurdles from the beginning: She was faced with the stringent planning laws of a conservation area, neighbors objected to her plans, and town planners refused permission to enlarge the footprint of the original building.
A side extension that was added to the building in the 1970s was rebuilt to form an entrance hall and study on the ground floor and a bedroom and family bathroom on the first floor.
From nearby Condiut Hill, the juxtaposition of weathered red brick and clay with flush, aluminum windows gives the onlooker a sense that something interesting is happening inside.
The garage doors were remade to meet building regulations, but Nowicka kept the originals, stripping them back and using them as wall cladding.
Inside, a double-sided wood-burning stove stands on a large concrete plinth in the middle of the space, creating a central heat source and focal point.
Unfazed by the challenges presented, Nowicka set about reorganizing the floor plan.
Textured materials bring warmth to an otherwise minimalistic interior. The worktops and backsplash are Carrara marble, whilst the brushed stainless-steel kitchen island is intended to reference the medical industry.
Through to the stairway.
Generous circulation spaces upstairs and down give the building a convivial feel.
Oak is used to clad the walls of the double-height stairwell.
“Any interesting brickwork has also been exposed as a feature,” explains Nowicka. Strong, architectural shapes and white walls are to be found in the bedrooms upstairs, where the interiors continue to reference the building’s medical history.
Upstairs (with a linen cabinet reminiscent of the building’s medical history).
A new dormer window in the main bedroom affords a view over Conduit Hill towards Austin Friar’s Monastery, home to Alex MacArthur Interiors.
Above L: The cadaver bench, now a dressing table.
In the master bedroom, a triangular window slots into the space between the twin gables (seen here from the exterior side elevation).
Nowicka outside the property as it appeared in 2013.
The original garage doors, which opened into the cavernous garage space.
The kitchenette upstairs.