The House that Bond Built - Peter Bond and the Wates House at CAT

SMALL PROJECTS BIG IDEAS

A lecture by Pierre d’Avoine at the Building Centre on Wednesday 6 May 2026

2026 is the 50th anniversary of The Wates House designed by Peter Bond. It was the first new build project at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), Machynlleth in mid Wales which was set up by the environmental activist Gerard Morgan-Grenville in 1973 in an abandoned slate quarry.

THE WATES HOUSE MAY JUST BE THE MOST IMPORTANT HOUSE, IN ENVIRONMENTAL TERMS, EVER BUILT IN THE UK.

“The house was the first house in the UK (and possibly in the world) to use ‘wrap-around’ insulation in that the same thickness of insulation (450mm) was installed all around the building, in the cavity walls, floor and roof.” Simon Tucker

The Wates House predates Passivhaus by fifteen years. The thinking behind it, by Peter Bond and his team, is brilliant in its disarmingly direct and critical response to the issue of reducing energy consumption in houses using insulation.

A book about the Wates House will be published later this year to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The book by Pierre d’Avoine, Jonathan Vining and Caroline Bond (Peter Bond’s daughter) is designed by Reynard d’Avoine and includes interviews and essays by an eminent group of contributors who worked/still work at CAT including some who knew Peter Bond. These include Paul Allen, Pat Borer, Peter Harper, Eileen Kinsman (interim co-CEO at CAT) and Simon Tucker, with a foreword by Richard J Williams, Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures at the University of Edinburgh.

Pierre d’Avoine will present a lecture telling the story of Peter Bond and the Wates House on Wednesday 6 May to inaugurate the month long event Small Projects Big Ideas, hosted by Dr Ben Hounsell at The Building Centre.

Pierre d’Avoine worked with the Peter Bond Partnership between 1975 and 1977.

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