Malvern Pool House / Klas Hyllén Architecture

Architects: Klas Hyllén Architecture
Area: 201 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Hide Film for Klas Hyllén Architecture
Manufacturers: PetersenTegl
Lead Team: Klas Hyllen
Design Team: Klas Hyllén Architecture
Engineering & Consulting > Structural: Malishev Engineers, Buckland Timber
Engineering & Consulting > Mechanical: Pool Architecture, Recotherm
County: Warwickshire
Country: United Kingdom

Malvern Pool House, a residential leisure addition designed by Klas Hyllén Architecture in Warwickshire, extends an Arts & Crafts-inspired home with a carefully composed ensemble of interconnected brick volumes. Designed as a sensory retreat, the project houses a swimming pool, relaxation spaces, and ancillary functions, all angled to frame views of the Malvern Hills. The primary space features a white-washed diagrid glue-laminated ceiling and a nine-meter skylight, creating a cathedral-like atmosphere that merges sky and water. The secondary mono-pitch structure defines a northern farm courtyard and contains changing facilities, showers, and a meditation space. These volumes are linked by a glazed timber corridor that connects to the main house, where a former snooker room now serves as a gym and games area. Below, a basement houses technical systems and a wine cellar. Structural systems and ventilation are integrated discreetly, with services concealed in accessible voids beneath the pool. Energy performance is ensured by a super-insulated, airtight envelope that uses masonry and treated timber to withstand humidity. The result is a highly efficient and materially rich extension that balances environmental control, sensory atmosphere, and landscape integration.

Malvern pool house / klas hyllén architecture

Malvern Pool House, designed by Klas Hyllén Architecture, serves as a refined architectural counterpart to an Arts & Crafts-inspired residence situated on a hilltop in rural Warwickshire. The project contains a swimming pool along with a series of relaxation rooms. It is composed of two interconnected clay brick volumes that, while minimal in form, are materially rich and precisely detailed. The design integrates expansive views over the Malvern Hills with a large, light-filled interior featuring a diagrid ceiling with cathedral-like qualities that seems to float above the pool.

A nine-meter-long skylight introduces abundant daylight into the space and, on clear nights, allows starlight to filter through. The interaction between water and clay brick produces a natural mineral scent that permeates the air. The ancillary volume accommodates essential facilities such as showers and dressing rooms, and links directly to the main house while enclosing and sheltering a courtyard to the north. Malvern Pool House is designed to encourage relaxation and renewal. It functions as a sensory environment defined by light and water, offering a retreat that remains closely connected to the surrounding landscape and the wildlife—deer, geese, and hares—that inhabit the adjacent fields.

The primary oblong volume, measuring 63 m², is oriented to optimize its connection with the landscape and is designed to foreground elemental experiences. It contains a 1.4-meter-deep pool, with water extending to the perimeter walls and terminating at a large south-facing window, allowing an uninterrupted visual transition into the surrounding view. A white-washed, diagrid glue-laminated ceiling introduces a calm, monastic atmosphere. The secondary volume, 38 m² in size, reinforces and shelters a rectilinear farm courtyard to the north—its definition enhanced by the precise positioning of the new structures. This mono-pitched form contains ancillary functions including showers, changing rooms, and a small, separate meditation space. It connects to the main house via a newly introduced timber fin-glazed link. The space situated between the two main volumes, covering 32 m², functions as a relaxation zone that unifies the scheme. Beneath the ancillary and relaxation areas lies a basement level, which houses the plant room, an overflow tank, and a wine cellar measuring 68 m². Within the main house, and accessed through the glazed link, a former snooker room has been converted into a 58 m² games room and gym.

The structural composition of Malvern Pool House appears deceptively simple, concealing a series of complex technical systems. Mechanical services, typically exposed in pool environments, are entirely hidden. These systems have been integrated into accessible and maintainable voids beneath the water, while a discreet ventilation system has been incorporated into the steel ring beam that supports the roof. In terms of energy performance, the building addresses the inherent demands of an indoor pool—both energy-intensive and humid—through a highly insulated, airtight envelope. The design includes 350 mm of insulation in the roof, 300 mm in the walls, and 200 mm in the ground, significantly reducing heat loss and energy consumption. The material palette, comprising masonry and treated timber, was selected for its durability and capacity to withstand high humidity over extended periods.

Klas Hyllén described the project as a full sensory experience, noting that while it is visually refined, its true impact is revealed through direct engagement. He explained that it engages all the senses—acoustics, temperature, tactility, and particularly the scent of water interacting with brick, which produces what he called “a very pleasant mineral, almost monastic scent.” He identified the air handling unit as the system’s core, maintaining a stable temperature of approximately 29 °C (84 °F) and humidity at around 55%. He emphasized the connection to the surrounding environment and the sense of joy in being immersed in the landscape, concluding that “it backstrokes only here as you stargaze into the cosmos for a spot of night swimming.”