Peckforton
Project Timeline: 1 week designing and sourcing, 2 day build
Interior Design Masters Challenge 2: View Episode
Completed
The Intimacy of Grandeur
There’s an immediate sense of scale when you step into Peckforton Castle.
High ceilings, deep-set windows, and a weight of architectural detail that feels both imposing and deliberate. Built in the mid-19th century as a place for hosting and celebration, the building was always intended to hold moments of significance - gatherings, occasions, and time spent together.
That sense of purpose is still present, but the way we inhabit spaces like this has shifted.
Interiors within buildings of this scale often lean into their presence - amplifying it through materiality, detail, and visual impact. But in practice, the experience of occupying these spaces tends to be more nuanced. Moments of rest, conversation, and reflection sit alongside the more visible aspects of a stay. The challenge, then, is not simply how a space looks, but how it holds those different states.
This project explores that balance - working with the architecture rather than against it, while introducing a softer, more human layer within it.
Credit: Peckforton Castle
Rather than introducing a competing language, the design draws directly from the building itself.
The geometry of the castle - particularly its turrets, vaulted forms, and internal spaces - became the starting point.
This is expressed through the repeated use of the octagon, a form that appears across the room in the ceiling, wall detailing, and joinery.
It establishes a sense of rhythm and continuity, while remaining grounded in the architectural language of the building.
A full spatial study in SketchUp allowed the layout to be explored and tested before moving into execution.
Exploring the final layers helped define the atmosphere - bringing a sense of intimacy to the space.
The model enabled architectural references to be integrated into the concept, while also establishing key dimensions for fabrication.
The result is a space that balances comfort and refinement, sitting naturally within its architectural setting.
Referencing the building’s 19th-century architecture, the traditional ceiling rose is reinterpreted in a more contemporary form.
Resolving the spatial layout early on allowed the scheme to be carried through with clarity and confidence.
The existing layout is largely retained, with small but deliberate adjustments to improve flow and emphasis.
Furniture is repositioned to centre the room more clearly around the bed, allowing it to act as the focal point of the space. This is reinforced through the introduction of a large upholstered headboard in a soft, coffee-toned velvet - framing the bed and bringing a sense of softness and enclosure within the wider volume.
Earlier iterations explored introducing floating bedside tables to create a more overtly contemporary contrast. Instead, a more restrained approach was taken.
Existing furniture was retained and unified through colour - finished in a muted, chalky pink that introduces a lighter visual presence. This helps to offset the weight of the surrounding architecture, while maintaining a sense of continuity across the room.
Materially, the scheme focuses on softening both the scale and the formality of the space.
A deep green is used across the walls to anchor the room - drawing on the surrounding landscape and providing a sense of depth against the architectural detailing. This is balanced with a softer, chalky pink across the furniture, which lifts the palette and introduces a more gentle, domestic quality.
Warm metallic accents - present within the wallpaper and smaller details - add moments of contrast and refinement, while velvet textures bring warmth, tactility, and a sense of comfort against the harder stone and timber elements.
Together, this palette works to mediate between structure and softness - creating a more intimate atmosphere within a space defined by its scale.
The result is a space that doesn’t attempt to compete with the grandeur of the building, but instead works alongside it.
A room that holds onto the character of its setting, while offering something quieter, more considered, and more attuned to how we experience moments of rest and connection today.