Emily Hobhouse Museum, Cornwall: MHB steel

The Story of Emily Museum honours humanitarian Emily Hobhouse, who campaigned against the UK’s use of concentration camps during the Boer War. Located in her birthplace of St Ive, Cornwall, the museum combines Hobhouse’s childhood rectory with new-build and rebuilt structures that reflect her contrasting life experiences.

The listed rectory, overlooking a meadow, remains the site’s centrepiece. To the far south, shielded by hedges, sits the War Rooms—a zinc-clad, enigmatic building that creates a sense of alienation within the Cornish landscape. Visitors enter through a rebuilt welcome building on the footprint of Blackthorn Grange, which retains its Yennadon stone while incorporating ultra-slim MHB steel windows barely visible within deep reveals. Inside, the retail space feels warm and inviting with scalloped oak joinery, patinated bronze, and a blue lias stone floor.

A garden path leads to the War Rooms, where the climate-controlled interiors evoke South Africa’s heat. The exhibition traces Hobhouse’s life, from her activist efforts to her memorialisation in South Africa, with the architecture carefully supporting the exhibition’s themes. Stonewood Design worked with Elsabe Brits and exhibition designers to ensure an honest portrayal of Hobhouse’s life, creating an experience that is both engaging and respectful of its setting.

Product: MHB SL30-ISO thermally broken solid steel windows

Architect: Stonewood Design