Restoration Home

Nutbourne Pumping Station in West Sussex is a wreck. It closed in the 1970s and is now an industrial-size bunker full of rusting, redundant heavy duty machinery. But this ruin was at the heart of a revolution that saved our grandparents’ generation and changed society forever. It tells the story of the water we drink and not that long ago, drinking British water could literally kill you. It’s remarkable past doesn’t stop there, it was slap bang in the heyday of architectural design and even more than that, it played a crucial role in the dark, dismal years of the 1930s depression. For new owners, Nick and Brigitte, the rotting bunker offered the ideal space for them and their 5-year-old twins. Their plan is ambitious – turn the concrete carcass into a carbon efficient home for life. When the couple first bought the puming station, they had no sentimental attachment to its former life. But as they learn about it past, their feelings towards the building begin to change.