RURAL RETREAT
The Self-Build Diaries: Rob and Sarah Collard
Those that closely follow Channel 4’s Building the Dream may recall Charlie Luxton profiling Cambridgeshire-based husband-and-wife self-build duo Rob and Sarah Collard back in 2018. Their ambitious build, aptly named Collard Towers, was designed entirely by the pair without the help of an architect – and with an astonishing objection-free eight-week-long planning approval. Here, i-Build Editor, Rebecca, catches up with Sarah to find out more about the Collards’ hands-on, positively inspirational self-build project.
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We loved the experience (most of the time!). However, I would avoid living in a static caravan again! We are, in fact, currently on the market having secured another plot of land to do the whole thing over again. I-B U I L D/ N OV/20
RK: What inspired you to embark on your own project rather than buying? SC: Building a house is something that we’ve always dreamed of doing. We loved the idea of personalising it and making the spaces precisely how we wanted. Previously, we have extended our homes and still found that we had to make too many compromises.
RK: What was the vision and inspiration behind your new home? SC: We simply wanted a large, open-plan home to fit around our family’s needs.
RK: How did you approach finalising your design brief? SC: Rob and I designed the house
ourselves, and Rob drew up all the plans in CAD. We made several tweaks until we were both happy with the final plans.
RK: How and why did you choose this plot? SC: We were on several estate agent
mailing lists for renovation projects. In 2015, we got the call about a house that needed renovating. At first, neither of us were very interested, however, not wanting to miss out on an opportunity, we went along for a viewing. When we arrived, we immediately fell in love with it and knew that it was perfect for us.
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RK: How long did it take to gain planning permission? SC: We were extremely fortunate with our planning
permission; it took us eight weeks with no objections.
RK: Were there any challenging aspects to the project and build? SC: Because we did so much of the build ourselves, our time was spread very thinly. We found that our time as a family was often compromised as we were working every evening and weekend.
RK: Did you project manage the build yourself? SC: The external shell was project managed and organised by our builder, and the entirety of the internals was project managed by us.
RK: Did you work with an architect at any point in the process? SC: No, we designed and built the whole house entirely ourselves!
RK: How did you approach material and product specification? SC: Because we were building the house as our
family home, we wanted the materials and products to be relatively high-end. Working with key suppliers, we were able to source the best products to suit our requirements. Not only with regards to the fitting but also within the fabric of the building, for example, the magnetic plastered walls in the children’s bedrooms, the heat recovery system and the Loxone smart home automation.
