Reimagining Borde Hill’s Edwardian Stables for a garden-led dining experience

Purcell's involvement spanned from concept design (2021) through to completion on site (2026), delivered in close collaboration with Jay Goddard, a member of the Stephenson-Clarke family, who have stewarded Borde Hill for five generations. A profound belief in the power of plants has shaped the Estate since the sixteenth century, informing an approach that continues to guide its evolution today.

Building on this legacy, Purcell’s proposals has reimagined the 1906 Edwardian Stables through the introduction of carefully considered new finishes and infrastructure, the integration of a high-specification professional kitchen to support an elevated hospitality offer, and the creation of a new glasshouse restaurant with a deep connection to the surrounding landscape.

The Edwardian Stables overlook a hidden, south-facing Walled Garden which historically served as the Estate’s kitchen garden. Drawing inspiration from the Edwardian glasshouse tradition of West Sussex, the glasshouse concept of Isca is designed to seamlessly blend within the wider parkland, establishing visual and physical connections to the restored Walled Garden beyond. The scheme builds on award-winning garden designer Ann-Marie Powell’s thoughtful reimagining of the space, strengthening the relationship between architecture, landscape and cultivation. Also located within the Walled Garden, Edie’s Kitchen is the Estate’s new daytime dining destination. Featuring pitched ceilings and exposed oak beams, it offers a warm, family-friendly setting centred on seasonal produce.

Connections to the gardens were maintained through careful selection of materials. Sandstone sourced from the nearby West Hoathly quarry, the same material used in both the original Stables building and the sixteenth-century Elizabethan Mansion House, grounds the new glasshouse restaurant within the estate’s architectural heritage. The distinctive green rolling steel façade seamlessly transitions into three pitched roof lanterns, echoing the historic gable and dormer windows of the existing stable block while establishing a dramatic, light-filled dining space.

Having opened in May 2026, Restaurant Isca takes its name from the Magnolia × veitchii ‘Isca’ tree, part of Borde Hill Estate’s nationally significant botanical collection. Its culinary offer is shaped by estate-grown produce, ‘edimental’ flowers and foraged herbs, serving garden visitors, the wider public and guests staying on the Estate. Through a sensitive combination of architectural and landscape interventions, the project realises the client’s vision for a distinctive hospitality destination that is deeply rooted in its setting within a Grade II*-Registered Park and Garden.

Jay Goddard (née Stephenson Clarke), Managing Director and fifth-generation family custodian of Borde Hill, said: “It was a pleasure to work with the Purcell team – their extensive heritage experience and passion for design resulted in a collaborative design process which has led to a new destination glasshouse restaurant being created. We are hugely proud of what restaurant Isca has become.”

Jonathan Crosthwaite, Senior Architect at Purcell, added: “It’s wonderful to see Isca sit so well within its surroundings and be so warmly received by customers. We’re proud to have given the historic stable block a new lease of life, creating a destination that can be enjoyed for generations to come. Tucked away within the Walled Garden, the glasshouse inspired dining room offers an unexpected moment of discovery and surprise, elevating the visitor experience and strengthening the restaurant’s connection to the estate’s historic garden kitchen.”