Alain de Botton's Living Architecture

John Galvin Design was commission by Nord Architects to produce bedroom furniture for The Shingle House, part of the Living Architecture project.

The Shingle House is sited on one of the most unusual and poetic landscapes in England, on the shingle beach of Dungeness, near Romney Marsh. The vast beach contains a random collection of fisherman's huts (many of them owned by artists, including - most famously - the late film-maker Derek Jarman), two lighthouses and the terminus of a miniature coastal steam train. The entire beach is classified as a nature reserve and is filled with unusual flora and is a haven for a plethora of birdlife.

Living Architecture's house is by a young Scottish practice, NORD Architecture, who responded to the natural drama of the site with a simple monumental black house, finished in tarred black shingles on the outside and in a beautiful palette of concrete and timber within.

For more information on the Living Architecture project, visit their website at www.living-architecture.co.uk