Stanbrook Abbey, officially the Convent of Our Lady of the Sorrows, is located in the North York Moors National Park. A secluded location in a picturesque setting of hills and valleys was chosen by the nuns as the optimal environment for their contemplative, prayerful life.
The project is based on the principles of simplicity and peace. The laconic forms of the complex set off the spectacular landscapes opening from the south. The closed part of the monastery with 26 cells, a kitchen, a refectory and rooms for work (it was completed in 2009) faces there - from where the maximum sunshine also comes -. Now the monastery has a church, chapel, chapter hall and various guest rooms, including a conference room and a bookstore. All of these public spaces face east towards the access road.
The nuns wanted an eco-friendly and resource-efficient monastery that was inexpensive to maintain. It was for the sake of saving money that they left their monastery in Worcestershire, a building in the middle of the 19th century (now there is a hotel): it was too expensive to constantly repair it and pay considerable heating bills, especially since at the beginning of the 21st century the number of nuns dropped from 80 to about 25.
As a result, the architects tried to use environmentally friendly, recyclable or low-energy production materials for construction: sandstone (a significant part of it is waste from the production of tiles at a local enterprise) and oak wood, as well as copper. Instead of the usual steel, part of the supporting structure was made from local wood. The complex uses natural ventilation, energy-consuming electrical equipment and lamps, a shell with a high level of insulation, a wastewater treatment system using a "swamp" with reeds.
