Designed for life
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Words by Hannah Tapping
With a new home of its own in Ashburton and a decade of exceptional work, architectural practice VESP designs high-quality architecture that roots itself in the sensitive landscapes of coast and moorland.
There is a house above the Shaldon coastline in South Devon where the building seems to have grown out of the hillside itself. Seen from the sea, it emerges as a bold two-storey statement of glass and dark timber; from the lane behind, it barely registers, a single-storey pavilion settling into the slope. A terrace bridges the approach and below it, the living spaces open wide to uninterrupted views of the water. This is Labrador Bay House, one of the stand-out projects in the portfolio of Devon-based architects VESP, and it captures something essential about the practice’s way of working: that great architecture should be rooted in place and shaped by the people who will inhabit it.
VESP is entering its 20th year, and this January the practice marked the milestone in fitting style by moving into a new studio in Ashburton that it designed and built for itself. “It’s a high-performance building, beautiful inside and out,” says director Ian.
“It says everything about what we want to be as architects, and what we can offer our clients.” For a practice that has long let its buildings do the talking, having a home of its own feels both overdue and wholly right.
The story of VESP begins, improbably, in Malaysia. Founding director Eilir Sheryn and his wife Frederieke – also an architect – met at a practice in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1990s, at a time when the UK recession had sent a generation of young European architects abroad in search of work. Returning to London, Eilir joined the respected firm Squire and Partners before the couple eventually made their way to Devon with four young children to set up their own practice. Fellow director Ian followed, having studied in Cardiff before finding himself drawn to the South West. Today the team numbers twelve, all working from the new Ashburton office. “We’re proud to say we have ten of the most talented young architects in Devon,” says Eilir, “and they all take a full and active part in the design process.”
This collaborative spirit runs through everything VESP designs. Rather than channelling all creative decisions through a single vision, each project is assigned to an architect chosen for their affinity with the brief and the client, while the directors remain closely involved throughout. “Our challenge is to create something new every time; to keep pushing ourselves and redefining what we do,” says Eilir. Regular internal reviews ensure that ideas are tested and earned at every stage and the energy of the studio feeds directly into the work. “It’s a real exchange of ideas,” adds Ian. “We work closely with our clients to understand their aspirations and lifestyle. This collaborative design process ensures the architecture is perfectly suited to them.”
The practice’s design philosophy is, as Eilir puts it, unashamedly modernist, yet the work is far from dogmatic. “We love that relationship between respecting the old and introducing the new, with a legible difference between the two,” he explains. “We embrace modern construction technologies, but use traditional materials.” Local stone, timber, lime render, slate and zinc recur across projects, anchoring each building to its landscape. Equally, VESP has embraced digital tools with enthusiasm: advanced 3D modelling allows the team to interrogate the design holistically, walk clients through their future homes at an early stage, and resolve construction details long before work begins on site. “Everything is millimetre-accurate,” says Eilir . “It’s an incredible tool.”
Above: Higher Dorsley
That rigour tells in a portfolio that moves confidently across coast, countryside and listed buildings alike. Labrador Bay House, completed in 2022, remains a landmark scheme. Approached from the lane, it reads as a single-storey stone wall standing between the visitor and the sea view beyond; only as you move through does the architecture reveal itself – floating planar roofs above stone, with the glassy, light-filled elevations that face the water coming slowly into view.
The contrasts elsewhere within the portfolio are equally striking. High Dorsley, a Class Q barn conversion designed for a couple who love having family to stay, delivers a generous central living volume flanked by a private master wing on one side and a dedicated guest suite on the other: “a contemporary agricultural barn aesthetic,” as Ian describes it. Stipperstones, a riverside home just outside Exeter took a different approach entirely; single-storey pavilion on stilts set above flood level, its screens and glazing folding open on all sides to the tree canopy and the River Exe below. The client was an avid birdwatcher, so “opening the house up to the river and the views, so that he could sit there and enjoy the wildlife, was imperative,” explains Ian.
With a full programme of projects moving on-site over the coming year and a new home of its own in the heart of Devon, VESP is entering the next decade with momentum and confidence. For a practice built on the belief that every building should be a unique response to its place and to the people within it, the best work may well be still to come.
Above: Stipperstones
