Pawson’s design ethos is to pursue simplicity in design, allowing architecture to speak for itself and be appreciated in the purest form that it can be ‘Omit the unimportant, in order to emphasis the important’ (Pawson, 1998)
The Baron House is an example of how Pawson instils this ethos into his architecture. He has taken a vernacular farm building and stripped it back to the bare minimum while the outcome is still complex and sophisticated. The house was designed as a summer vacation home for Fabien Baron between 2003 and 2005 in Skane, Sweden. The conceptual idea was to create separation between public and private accommodation by the introduction of vistas, creating a direct connection to the landscape. The plan is split into two distinct halves by an axis running east to west, creating a journey from the car park through the courtyard and house to vast landscape beyond. The site was previously occupied by a cluster of vernacular farm buildings with a central courtyard. The new house was designed to fit the original footprint as well as maintaining the form and volume of the previous buildings. Unlike the form, the structure and material choice have no similarities or connections with the previous farm buildings. Instead of a timber frame construction, a steel frame has been used which creates an instant separation from traditional, locally sourced materials. The white rendered walls and light grey profiled sheet roofing of the external materials are a stark contrast to the surrounding landscape.