Coopers Chapel

Coopers Chapel sits at the bottom of a garden in the Slad Valley, looking out across the valley towards Stroud. It provides a small, meditative space, somewhere to sit quietly alone or for a small group to meet.

Reached by a short timber stair, it feels at once part of the garden and a world apart from it.

One large window, set into the gable, frames the valley like a picture.

Raised on slender timber legs, the building touches the sloping ground lightly, leaving the roots of the trees and the planting beneath undisturbed. It is built from local Cotswold stone and timber, with boards and shingles left to weather to a soft silver grey that settles quietly into the garden.

Many of the most important details were created in collaboration with the client, a wood carver, using a number of unusual and special woods.

Beneath the window, a carved wooden face keeps watch over the valley.

The construction is simple and honest, with every board, post and joint left visible, so the way the building is made becomes part of its character.

Developed through hand sketches and drawings, Coopers Chapel shows how a very small building can hold a strong sense of place.