Christina Seilern, principal of Studio Seleirn Architects, won a DNA Paris Design Award for Oak Cottage. A low-carbon extension to a historic farm residence, Oak Cottage features a building envelope made of 100% recycled Durisol insulated blocks and oil larch timber cladding.

Oak Cottage offers “a contemporary interpretation of the traditional barn typology with modern materials and large glazed openings.” Seilern worked with a sustainability consultant to edit her original design in order to mitigate energy consumption and carbon use.

The Oak Cottage project created a larger family residence on a rural farm property in the UK. Seilern’s extension complements the original cottage through its contemporary barn form. Additionally, her use of timber cladding, which will age to a gray color, will make the building blend in with its rural landscape.

Seleirn grew up in Switzerland before studying architecture at Columbia University.

The landscape of her childhood shaped her aesthetic: “She is very much influenced in her work by her early years spent in the mountains, connected to nature of awe-inspiring scale.” Oak Cottage’s dramatic angles and protruding balcony recall the dramatic peaks of Swiss mountains.