This new summerhouse by George Saumarez Smith stands in the grounds of a Grade II* listed house in Hampshire and follows the long tradition of architecturally significant garden buildings. The Summerhouse is within a walled garden and is being constructed on the site of an 18th century orangery which was demolished in the 1930's. No records survive of the appearance of this earlier building.

The new design is based on a Palladian Doric Order, adapted and simplified for the use of brick as the principle material. It particularly refers to the work of the Veronese renaissance architect Michele Sanmicheli, in its robust application of the order, in particular the simplified trigylphs. The summerhouse also echoes the work of Nicholas Hawskmoor at the Kensington Place Orangery.

The exceptional quality of the summerhouse has now been recognised by various architectural awards. Most recently, it has been highly commended in the prestigious Georgian Group Awards in the category of 'New Building in the Classical Tradition'. It has also been announced as the overall winner of the RIBA Ibstock Downland Prize 2006. The summerhouse, carried out under the supervision of RJ Smith of Whitchurch, was described by the jury as