Carved into the chalky grasslands of the South Downs, Exton Hall’s 3.5-metre deep basement was constructed for use as a wine vault and space for wine tastings. The basement occupies the full extent of the building and was formed using 350mm thick reinforced concrete walls and base.

Two elliptical skylights bridge the gap between the basement and the main building. One brings in light from outside and the other provides a view to a specially crafted glass-insert table in Exton Park’s boardroom. Somewhat more special, those sitting around the boardroom table can look through the table into the wine vaults below.

Though an architecturally beautiful idea, providing the structural support needed proved difficult. The hole was too wide to hold the table above, so a cantilevering bracket system was designed to provide the support required.

The Great Hall is the entrance space to the building. It spans from the ground-floor level to level two as one open storey, providing a feeling of grandeur.

To create this vast open space, the structural steel frame needed to span, without immediate support, from the front to the back of the building, as well as from the ground floor to roof level. AWA implemented a series of moment frames to achieve the “cathedral like” space.

Another focal point of the building is the two-storey corkscrew stair which links the basement to the upper floors. The constructability was considered by AWA, before the stairway was constructed in a factory and craned into the steel frame once erected.

The external skin compromises of natural stone. As stones are not regular in shape, one of the biggest challenges was the restraint of the external stonework to the steel frame. Continuity of the stonework was fundamental to the overall design, and was particularly intricate around the window frames.