Plans to pull down a Seventies style house for a new Grand Designs-style futuristic pad in North Wales has been met with horror by locals.
The old large rectangular home in Nefyn, on the Llyn Peninsula, sits over a series of garages and boat sheds on the cliffside at the edge of the beach, and architects now plan to demolish it in favour of a luxury seaside home with charcoal timber walls and natural stone.
The site was previously home to a cafe before being knocked down and transformed into the current house, called Morlais, in the early 1970s.
But the designs for the new property have been blasted as ‘no better than the previous one’ by disgruntled residents.
A public consultation over the new designs has sparked a series of objections from locals, who described it as ‘not being in keeping with the area’, and as a ‘dark, unwielding lump’, due to the proposed dark plinth supporting the white cladding.
Concerns have also been raised that the land is ‘too unstable for such a building’ because of the state of the retaining walls on the cliff.
The old large rectangular home in Nefyn, on the Llyn Peninsula, sits over a series of garages and boat sheds on the cliffside at the edge of the beach
Architects now plan to demolish it in favour of a luxury seaside home with charcoal timber walls and natural stone
The site was previously home to a cafe before being knocked down and transformed into the current house, called Morlais, in the early 1970s
The designs for the new property have been blasted as ‘no better than the previous one’ by disgruntled residents
A public consultation over the new designs has sparked a series of objections from locals, who described it as ‘not being in keeping with the area’, and as a ‘dark, unwielding lump’, due to the proposed dark plinth supporting the white cladding
Work will be carried out to demolish the home as it stands and install cliff stabilisation and new retaining structures
According to Downs Merrifield Architects, work will be carried out to demolish the home as it stands and install cliff stabilisation and new retaining structures.
The architects report reads: ‘The building shape reflects the original boathouse/cafe which occupied the site prior to the construction of Morlais.
‘The building form also blends in with the pitched roofs of existing cottages whilst the natural finish to the façades and local stone will tone in with the vegetation of the cliff.
‘The entrance is located on the south side and is approached via the sun deck, with a screen to help enhance privacy.’
Despite local objections, a planning officer for Gwynedd Council has backed the move to approve plans for the new build.
‘There is a right for this house to exist and therefore a right to change it’, they said.