Keeping up with studio four point ten!
Here at four point ten we’d like to keep you up to speed with progress on all our projects and events, so check in once in a while for the latest.
Welcome to Our New Home at Newark Works, Bath
19 JANUARY 2026
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve officially relocated our Bath studio to Newark Works, a beautifully restored riverside workspace in the heart of Bath Quays. Our new home occupies the former Stothert & Pitt crane works, part of a Grade II listed Victorian industrial complex that once formed the heart of Bath’s engineering legacy. For over a century, Stothert & Pitt was one of the world’s leading crane manufacturers, supplying iconic machinery - including cranes used in the construction of the Great Western Railway and even aboard the Titanic - before the works closed in 1989.
Following a thoughtful and extensive restoration, Newark Works has been transformed into an inspiring creative hub that celebrates its industrial past while supporting modern ways of working. We’re thrilled to now be part of this vibrant setting and creative community.
We look forward to welcoming clients, partners, and friends to visit us soon!
Highly Commended at the Sussex Heritage Awards
2 JULY 2025,
PETT LEVEL, EAST SUSSEX
We are pleased to announce that our beach house project in Pett Level, East Sussex was Highly Commended in the Small Scale Residential: New Build category, at the Sussex Heritage Awards 2025.
The judges said:
“The architects have created a scheme that solved a number of tricky issues. It met its brief perfectly and the architect’s enthusiasm was obvious. The upstairs living room is a particularly special space, "simply fantastic" - very contextual. Built on a restricted budget - but can still create a wonderful home that is sustainable. An interesting solution for both budget and site restrictions.”
Many thanks to our client for having the trust and vision to commission such a wonderful project, and to the brilliant contractors Jim Soan & Sons for their great work.
Planning Approval for New Build Low Energy Family Home in Bristol Countryside.
13 JUNE 2025
THORNBURY, BRISTOL
We are thrilled to share the news that our long-anticipated low energy home on the edge of Thornbury has received planning approval - a significant milestone in what has been a deeply collaborative and rewarding design journey with our client.
Nestled just outside Thornbury, on a site that borders the Green Belt and opens out to sweeping views of the surrounding countryside, this new build family home will offer a carefully crafted response to its unique rural setting. From the very beginning, our client was driven by a desire to return to the town where they once lived, to raise their growing family in a home that felt both rooted in the landscape and future-facing in its ambition.
The design process has been thoughtful and considered, drawing inspiration from the rural vernacular of neighbouring farmsteads and workers’ cottages while embracing a more contemporary architectural language. The result is a home that blends tradition with innovation and a building that feels entirely of its place, yet forward-thinking in its construction approach and performance.
A key part of the vision was to design a house that engages fully with its surroundings. The building opens out on all sides, creating a continuous dialogue between inside and out. Generous glazing frames long views across the landscape, including toward the distant tower of St Mary’s Church in Thornbury. A richly conceived landscape scheme will further embed the home into its garden setting, with new planting and characterful outdoor spaces offering a meaningful connection between the architecture and the land.
Securing planning approval from South Gloucestershire Council was not without its challenges, given the sensitive nature of the site. However, after a rigorous and constructive process, the project was recommended for approval and ultimately supported by committee members.
This project promises to deliver far more than just a beautiful new home. It represents a commitment to building responsibly - a sustainable, low-energy house that celebrates local character, engages meaningfully with its site and ecology, and champions modern construction methods to create architecture that is both efficient and joyful in use.
Forming Metalwork Canopies to Charred Timber Cabin
27 JUNE 2025,
BATH, UK
We were recently back on site just outside Bath to install a beautiful set of bespoke perforated steel canopies - the final detail in our Charred Cabin project, which already features a rich and finely crafted interior.
These canopies, designed specifically for this project by our Director, Lee Holcombe, feature a custom perforated pattern inspired by the delicate form of allium flowers - a nod to the surrounding garden landscape and a personal touch for our client. The mild steel has already begun to weather naturally, creating an evolving patchwork of rust tones that will gradually settle into a deep, even red oxide, as a living finish that adds character and texture to the exterior.
There are three canopies in total, each carefully fabricated and assembled on-site, and their presence brings a final sense of cohesion and refinement to the overall design. While functional in providing shelter, they also act as sculptural elements - filtering light through their floral cut-outs and casting subtle patterns onto the charred timber cladding beneath.
By night, the canopies will be lit from within revealing their delicate and suprising lantern like qualities.
We look forward to sharing images of all three canopies in place soon, as we complete this special project that so beautifully balances craft, material honesty, and site-specific design.
Planning Approval Granted for Compact but Impactful Winsley Scheme
6 MAY 2025
BATH & BRADFORD-ON-AVON
We’re pleased to share that our project near Bradford-on-Avon has recently secured planning permission. While modest in scale, this scheme reflects how even smaller interventions can bring about meaningful transformation—both in the way a property is experienced and in how it functions for its owners.
Set in Winsley, the project reimagines the front approach and landscape of an existing home. Our client was looking to introduce a greater sense of welcome and material richness to the property’s entrance, and the resulting design focuses on just that: a series of cascading stone steps, a finely detailed timber entrance canopy to define and announce the front door, and a revived garden and landscape plan that restores a sense of the traditional ‘front garden’—something currently lacking on site.
Projects like this remind us that big change doesn’t always require large scale. The key lies in well-judged moves, careful refinements, and introducing the right ingredients—materials, detail, and spatial character—tailored to the particular challenges and opportunities of a place. We really enjoy working on these more compact, detail-driven pieces, where considered design can make a genuine difference.
Bridge Taking Shape at Founders Wood: Oak Cladding Now Revealed
24 APRIL 2025
ALMONDSBURY, BRISTOL
Following on from our hands-on work with the Co-forest Initiative at their Founders Wood site near Bristol, we’re excited to share the latest progress on the new timber footbridge in Almondsbury. With the primary structure now in place, we’ve moved on to installing the solid English Oak cladding - and the results are beginning to speak for themselves.
This phase has been especially rewarding, as the curved form of the bridge deck begins to emerge more clearly through the careful cutting and placement of the oak battens. Each piece has been shaped to reveal the subtle arc of the structure, revealing the graceful line of the platform as it crosses through the hedge line connecting the two new woodland areas.
Seeing the finished oak deck in place, gently weaving through the landscape, is a reminder of how small interventions can carry a strong sense of place and purpose. The bridge doesn’t just connect land - it ties together ideas around community, ecology, and craft. Built to last and designed to belong, it forms a warm and tactile link within the growing woodland that will mature and evolve over time.
We’re proud to be part of this initiative and to support a project that brings people and nature closer together. Stay tuned as we complete the final touches, including ramp access and further landscaping, and celebrate the opening of this beautiful new crossing.
Building bridges with Co-Forest
25 MARCH 2025
ALMONDSBURY, BRISTOL
Following up on our recent post, we've been working closely with the Co-forest Initiative at their Founders Wood site near Bristol—and now, the real work begins! From digging and refilling holes to cutting and assembling timber, we’re diving into the hands-on process we love.
For our Director, Lee Holcombe, getting involved in making is at the heart of what fuels our passion for design and architecture. Spending a few days on-site preparing the footings and erecting the primary timber frame for the new footbridge was a rewarding experience. This bridge will soon connect two newly established woodland sites in Almondsbury.
Next up: securing the sawn oak finishes and ramp access, and we can’t wait to share the final results with you soon!
Uncovering Beauty in the Chaos: Our Sustainable Office Retrofit Begins
2 JANUARY 2025
WITNEY, WEST OXFORDSHIRE
Work is now underway on our sustainable office retrofit near Woodstock, Oxfordshire. We're transforming a former builder’s merchant-turned-children’s nursery into a new workspace for a multi-award-winning UK digital agency.
The initial strip-out phase is always an exciting moment—revealing the raw essence of a building, stripping it back to its core, and exposing the hidden beauty within. While construction can often seem like a chaotic process of destruction, it is a necessary step in the journey of renewal, a blank canvas ready for new layers of possibility.
Here’s a glimpse of the beauty we find in the midst of the dust and debris—proof that even in transformation, there is something to admire.
