PRESS RELEASE
THE HOUSE THAT BOND BUILT
book cover
THE WATES CONSERVATION HOUSE MAY JUST BE THE MOST IMPORTANT HOUSE, IN ENVIRONMENTAL TERMS, EVER BUILT IN THE UK.
“The house was the first house in the UK (and possibly in the world) to use ‘wrap-around’ insulation in that the same thickness of insulation (450mm) was installed all around the building, in the cavity walls, floor and roof.” Simon Tucker
This book is about Peter Bond and his design for the Wates Conservation House at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Wales built in 1976. Peter Bond studied at the AA School of Architecture in the 1950s. He worked for Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry and was staff architect on the Pilkington Headquarters at St Helens, Lancashire. Peter set up his practice at the Dome in Richmond in 1968. The practice was commissioned to design an exemplar house at the newly formed National Centre for Alternative Technology (now CAT) in 1975. The project was sponsored by the Wates Group Ltd, one of the largest family owned construction and development companies in the UK. Peter had a personal connection with Neil Wates which led to the commission.
“The project arose from the friendship between CAT's founder, Gerard Morgan Grenville, and Neil Wates, the family's live wire.” Peter Harper
It predates Passivhaus by fifteen years. The thinking behind it, by Peter Bond and his team, is brilliant in its disarmingly direct and critical response to the issue of reducing energy consumption in houses by using insulation.
The book by Pierre d’Avoine, Jonathan Vining and Caroline Bond (Peter Bond’s daughter) includes interviews and essays by an eminent group of contributors who worked/still work at CAT including some who knew Peter Bond. They include Paul Allen, Pat Borer, Peter Harper, Eileen Kinsman and Simon Tucker, with a foreword by Richard J Williams, Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures at the University of Edinburgh and an afterword by John Palmesino, who with Ann-Sofi Rönnskog, runs Territorial Agency and teaches AA Diploma 4.
Pierre d’Avoine worked with the Peter Bond Partnership between 1975 and 1977.
The House That Bond Built will be published by Pattern Book Press in September 2026 to mark the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Wates Conservation House. The book designed by Reynard d’Avoine is A4 hardback with a special fold out cover. It consists of approximately 270 pages printed on uncoated recycled paper, including text, drawings, illustrations and photographs in colour and duotone.
It is available at a pre-publication price of £30 plus £4 p&p.
The book will be sold at £40 plus p&p after publication.
Advance copies may be purchased from Pierre d’Avoine Architects: mail@davoine.net (www.davoine.net)
ORDER THE BOOK HERE
PRESS RELEASE
San Salvatore: house pool landscape
San Salvatore in Montione, Umbria, Italy is a house, pool and landscape designed by Pierre d’Avoine Architects and realised over a seven year period from 2010 to 2016. The project was commissioned by a client for whom the practice previously designed a flat in the attic of a Marylebone mansion block, London.
San Salvatore includes the alteration and conversion of an existing group of buildings, dating back to the 14th century, that comprised a chapel and two houses, into a summer residence. The project is located in a wooded landscape on the eastern edge of the Umbrian mountains with a panoramic view over the Tiber valley, and includes a new in-situ concrete swimming pool, pool room and terrace and the restoration of a ruined olive grove and surrounding landscape.
The book is a record of the project, photographed by David Grandorge at moments during its construction. The book includes essays by Peder Duelund Mortensen (emeritus professor, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture Copenhagen) and Pierre d’Avoine and a site diary/ reflection by Kuo Jze Yi who was the project architect.
San Salvatore will be published by Pattern Book Press in a print run of 1,000 copies. San Salvatore is the first in a series of monographs designed with BCMH, to be published by Pattern Book Press recording the work of Pierre d’Avoine.
The book is 135 pages, printed in duotone, case bound with hardback cover and dust jacket. Open the link to see an online version: https://issuu.com/bravo.charlie.mike.hotel/docs/pbp_san_salvatore
The book is available for order now at £20 plus postage, and will be available for delivery from 3rd December, 2021.
Pre ordered copies will be signed by Pierre d’Avoine and David Grandorge.
To order the book: http://www.davoine.net/shop/san-salvatore
For further information contact pbp@davoine.net (www.davoine.net)
