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Wonder
down under Adding a basement and extension to an Arts & Crafts house
EXTENSION ADVICE
Remodelling and extending a 1950s family home
BUILD IT YOURSELF
Woodland cabin LEGAL ADVICE
Easements
Better together SHOWCASE
Radiators
42
PAGES OF PROJECTS TO INSPIRE
Community self builds OPINION
The need to build forever homes
• Young couple transform
modest cow shed • Experimental eco home • Stunning seaside house • London office block converted to a luxury pad • Cottage wreck to dream home
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SelfBuild & Design MAY 2016
1
FROM THE EDITOR here was a time not so long ago when many of us looked on home ownership as you would other prime assets such as cars – to be upgraded at regular intervals in keeping with our status. However, unlike motor vehicles which depreciate alarmingly the moment they are driven off the seller’s forecourt, houses have the bonus of appreciating in value, with each move resulting in a corresponding jump up the property ladder. But as Gerald Cole points out in Topping Out (see page 112), stagnating incomes, rising property prices and high stamp duty mean that moving house every seven years or so, is now either financially impossible or wildly uneconomic. The trend now is to establish a ‘forever’ home. Traditionally prompted by retirement or downsizing, this is a welcome move away from the boom and bust cycle that has plagued the property market for generations. So what are the advantages of building a forever home, and what should we look at when designing one from scratch? This month’s Beginner’s Guide addresses many
T
Editorial
18 of the issues associated with our changing requirements, from single occupancy, through to couples, families and retirement. We also look at how homes can be adapted for better access to cater for disability, from designing oversized doorways and generous hallways for wheelchairs, to wet rooms and level thresholds. Such attention to detail at the planning stage can save potential headaches later on. Our case studies also illustrate how owners’ changing needs have influenced their idea of their dream home. We feature several carefully thought out extensions and remodels the owners developed
Editor Ross Stokes ross.stokes@sbdonline.co.uk Deputy Editor Louise Parkin l.parkin@sbdonline.co.uk Assistant Editor Lucy Keech Consulting Editor Gerald Cole Production Manager Jonathan Lee Art Editor Paul Limbert paul.limbert@sbdonline.co.uk
Business Development/ Account Manager Sam Hyde s.hyde@sbdonline.co.uk Tel: 01283 742979 Account Manager David Olver d.olver@sbdonline.co.uk Tel: 01283 742952 Advertising Production Sam Furniss s.furniss@wwonline.co.uk Tel: 01283 742974 Advertising Design Jo Ward
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after a period of living in their particular houses – one including a basement to cater for teenage children. We also have three stunning new-builds, along with the clever conversion of an office block into a narrow six-storey family home. And in our brand new Design section, we feature an innovative new scheme for a build-it-yourself woodland cabin to provide versatile extra family living space. Check it out on page 16.
EDITOR
Reader Services Kay Tunnicliffe, Emma Emery Tel: 01283 742970 Fax: 01283 742957 subscriptions@wwonline.co.uk Publisher Peter Johns PA to Publisher Sue Stelfox Editorial Address: SelfBuild & Design Magazine, 151 Station Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffs DE14 1BG Tel: 01283 742950 Fax: 01283 742957 www.selfbuildanddesign.com
PlotBrowser Tel: 01283 742972 Fax: 01283 742957 plotbrowser@sbdonline.co.uk
SelfBuild & Design is published by WW Magazines, 151 Station Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffs DE14 1BG. Printed in England by Warners (Midlands) plc, Bourne & London. Distributed by Marketforce. Tel: 0203 787 9001
Subscriptions UK subscription price for one year (12 issues) is £36, Europe/ROW Surface mail £58.50, ROW Airmail £78.50. Phone 01283 742970 to subscribe. Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations
Every effort is made to ensure that the material published in SelfBuild & Design is accurate and reliable. However, the publishers can accept no responsibility for claims made by advertisers, manufacturers or contributors. Readers are advised to check out any claims themselves before using them as the basis of any building project. Contributions are welcome but the safe return of unsolicited text or photographs cannot be guaranteed. Copyright for the contents of SelfBuild & Design rests with the publishers and no part of the contents can be reproduced without written permission to do so.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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18 28
Case studies 18 THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE Derek and Pauline Latham have built an eco house in their former garden that is being used as a test bed by university researchers.
28 WONDER DOWN UNDER Lynne and Harry Crot have expanded and remodelled their traditional family home with a contemporary rear extension and new basement.
44 BAY WATCH First-time selfbuilder Suzanne Mackey has built a stunning seaside home with a curved glass wall overlooking Cornwall’s Harlyn Bay.
36
56 RESTORING A WRECK Stephen Nash and Miranda May took a tired 1890s cottage and worked with the existing features to create a beautiful home with bags of character.
74 ALL CHANGE David Stanley has completed a major remodel and extension of a 1950s house, jointly managing the project with his wife.
Spotlight 36 RADIATING WARMTH Shopping for the right radiator.
Special features 65 BUILDING FOR DISABILITY Designing a home suitable for disability and our later years should be a key consideration for selfbuilders of all ages. We explore the options in our beginner’s guide.
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Contents
82
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
Regulars 5
NEWS & COMMENT A round-up of the latest news.
10 INTERIORS The ground floor of a London home has been opened up to provide unified living areas.
92 GREEN BUILDING NEWS A summary of the green scene.
96 DIARY DATES Shows, courses and seminars.
112 TOPPING OUT Gerald Cole ponders the end of the housing ladder.
65
Interview 71 DR STEFFIE BROER Meet the founding director of Bright Green Futures, the UK’s leading provider of eco self-build communities.
New Builds Extensions Conversions Renovations Inspiration
SELFBUILD & DESIGN www.selfbuildanddesign.com January 2019 £4.75
0 1
9
771471 107086
Wonder
down under Adding a basement and extension to an Arts & Crafts house
EXTENSION ADVICE
Remodelling and extending a 1950s family home
BUILD IT YOURSELF
Woodland cabin LEGAL ADVICE
Expert help 93 PLANNING ADVICE Roy Speer answers your planning queries.
94 LEGAL ADVICE A neighbour’s link to the electricity pole.
98 PLOT DOCTOR
86
Checking permission for any nasty surprises.
t Follow us on twitter.com/SelfBuildDesign G Like us on facebook.com/sbdmagazine
Easements
Better together SHOWCASE
Radiators
42
PAGES OF PROJECTS TO INSPIRE
Community self builds OPINION
The need to build forever homes
• Young couple transform modest cow shed
• Experimental eco home • Stunning seaside house • London office block
converted to a luxury pad
• Cottage wreck to dream home
Beginner's guide to
DISABLED ACCESS
On the cover A traditional family home with a contemporary rear extension and new basement. Page 28.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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SB&D News
NEWS
Renewables supply 38% of Germany’s power
January 2019
BACON DELIVERS HOUSING REFORM BILL South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon has delivered the first reading of the Housing Reform Bill which he says will improve space standards, increase the minimum thermal performance of new homes and require the Secretary of State to provide serviced plots of land at scale to offer real choice to anyone who wishes to get their own place to live. The Conservative MP and ambassador of the Right To Build Task Force said the changes would improve the current “broken” system. ”We have two nations developing, one nation of those people who are invited to landlord evenings by estate agents and who in some cases already own several buy-to-let properties, and another entirely separate nation of those who cannot afford somewhere
at all to live, either to rent or to buy,” he told parliament. “The planning system should be about making great places to live that are well designed and well built; well connected; well served with schools, health, community and sports facilities; environmentally sensitive, where green is normal; part of a thriving economy with local jobs; and active, inclusive and safe—that is to say, fair for everyone.
Mr Bacon said the reason there is so much opposition to new housing is that most people feel they have no real say over what gets built, where it gets built, how it performs — its thermal performance, what it looks like, crucially who has the first chance to live there, and what the benefits of the new housing will be for the existing community. “If we change all of that, we change the conversation,” he said.
“The reason there is so much opposition to new housing is that most people feel they have no real say over what gets built.”
Standards
COMMISSION FOR NEW-BUILDS
“In other words, we should separate the business of place making from the business of home building, which, so long as it is done to the required standards, can be built by anyone, including — increasingly, and often to higher standards — in an off-site factory.”
Housing secretary James Brokenshire has launched a commission to promote better design and style of homes. It will develop practical measures to ensure that new developments meet the needs and expectations of communities so that they are more likely to be welcomed than resisted. The government said the Building Better, Building Beautiful commission will expand on ways the planning system can encourage and incentivise a greater emphasis on design, style and community consent.
FREE SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY HOUSING Five community-led housing groups have been given free support packages by the Right to Build Task Force, the national body which aims to deliver more opportunities for custom build in the UK. The groups will receive targeted advice to help them progress to the next stage of their project. Community-led housing is considered a big growth area in the UK, as aspiring owners look to build homes that the open market is frequently not delivering. UK Co-housing reports that in the UK there are now 21 built co-housing developments, with more than 50 groups working to deliver projects, while the National Community Land Trust Network reports that there are 290 Community Land Trusts in England and Wales.
THE WINNING COMMUNITY SCHEMES • Clachan Co-housing Development Group – a multi-generational eco-housing group in Glasgow. • Kent Co-housing – a group working towards delivering sustainable, affordable co-housing for all ages. • Still Green Co-housing – a co-housing group for over-50s, working on projects in Milton Keynes and Bicester. • Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) – working to deliver new affordable housing projects. • Alderley Edge Neighbourhood Planning Group – working to include self build and custom build in its neighbourhood plan. Most groups will be using their time to support design and construction workshops, setting out the financial parameters around indicative site layouts and appraisals, and feasibility studies. Support will also be given around creating business plans and briefs. The RBTF wants to encourage more co-housing, Community Land Trust and neighbourhood groups to consider it as a vital source of help. Support is based on a consultancy approach,
offered at a discount. The task force can offer groups: • Training events about custom and self build housing and how to deliver it. • Help with neighbourhood planning initiatives, such as the preparation of planning policies and proposals to bring forward serviced building plots. • Advice on understanding local demand, selecting suitable sites, preparing planning applications and sourcing professional services.
Renewable energies collectively covered 38 per cent of Germany’s gross electricity consumption in the irst three quarters of 2018, up three percent on the same period last year. Yield was even higher in January, April and May with unusually strong winds and unseasonably sunny days pushing renewables’ share up as high as 43 per cent. The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research BadenWürttemberg and the German Federal Association of Energy and Water Management arrived at this igure in an initial assessment.
Owners show reluctance to sell The usual autumn rush to move house before Christmas hasn’t materialised, as new sell numbers dropped in October. According to the Property Supply Index compiled by online estate agents Housesimple, which analyses the number of new properties listed each month by estate agents across 100 major UK towns and cities, new listings fell from 72,593 in September to 68,598 in October. October normally sees a boost in housing supply coming to the market, but new stock levels were down in more than half (59.7%) of the 100 towns and cities analysed. St Helens in the North West saw the largest decline in property supply, with new listings last month down by more than a third (-33.8%) on September igures. The table below shows the UK towns and cities which saw the biggest drop off and biggest upturn in new sellers in October versus September.
DIFFERENCE IN NEW SELLERS Town/city
Region
Percent difference
St Helens Salford Ipswich Salisbury Truro Durham Winchester Poole Stevenage Worthing
North West North West East South West South North East South South South East South East
LARGEST INCREASES King’s Lynn East Lichield West Mids Chichester South East Bath South West Taunton South West
-33.8 -28.0 -25.6 -25.4 -24.5 -24.2 -23.6 -23.1 -22.4 -21.8
45.3 38.6 32.6 26.9 24.5
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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BOOK Reviews
BOOKS
Homes For Our Time: Contemporary houses around the world Philip Jodidio (Taschen £50) Looking for inspiration for your new home – or just plain curious about contemporary domestic architecture? This impressive new title should fit the bill and offer a welcome distraction to those long winter nights ahead. From small cottages and forest refuges to lavish villas and beach houses, there’s something here to appeal to all tastes, as Philip Jodidio travels the globe looking at exemplar contemporary homes. The book is something of a global digest featuring such talents as Shigeru Ban, MVRDV, and Marcio Kogan alongside up-and-coming names like Aires Mateus, Xu Fu-Min, Vo Trong Nghia, Desai Chia, and Shunri Nishizawa. Homes from Australia and New Zealand, China and Vietnam, the United States and Mexico are all featured, along with those from less expected places like Ecuador and Costa Rica. The result is a sweeping exploration of the modern home in all its forms. From Kamal Malik’s sanctuary nestled amongst guava trees in Western India, to Encina House, an elegant, sloping structure reminiscent of a gazebo designed by Aranguren & Gallegos, which similarly inhabits its surrounding vista ensconced in a pine forest north of Madrid, there is inspiration on every page. In all there are more than 50 homes, each distinct in design and in tune with its surroundings.
ZEDlife: How to build a low-carbon society today Bill Dunster (RIBA Publishing, £36) Architect Bill Dunster has been at the forefront of sustainable construction in the UK for more than a generation. As the founder of ZEDfactory, he has delivered a number of pioneering projects such as the Zero Bills Home and the ZEDpod, which prove that buildings can not only look good, but have a positive impact on the environment as well. They are typical of Dunster’s philosophy of pushing boundaries and driving innovation ahead of the norm.
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This book offers an insight into his sometimes uncompromising perspectives on how things and organisations are and how they should be. Here he shares his ideas, often in significant detail, about how he thinks housing and developments should be delivered. As Dr Peter Bonfield, the chief executive of the Building Research Establishment, writes in his foreword: “You may not agree with all he says or proposes, but if you have a passion for a more sustainable future and if you are willing to open up your mind to new ways to design and build, then, like me, you will enjoy the book.”
Loft Conversion Handbook Construction Products Association RIBA Publishing £30 The Construction Products Association and RIBA have teamed up to offer this guide to help both professionals and DIYers understand Building Regulations. The new book is an update on The Loft Conversion Project Guide, published in 2010, and brings together crucial information and solutions offered in the Approved Documents and third tier guidance in one concise guide. Aiming to bridge the gap between the professional building sector and DIY loft conversion projects, the book cuts jargon and offers instead effective, compliant solutions. It covers the main considerations for loft conversions such as fire safety, windows, stairs, doors and insulation. Duncan King, CPA’s technical manager says: “We wanted to create a guide that ticked all the boxes for a successful project, by streamlining the whole process for both construction professionals and homeowners, by overcoming the main issues associated with such work.” Indeed, the book does tick all the boxes, and though a touch on the pricey side for a fairly modest paperback, it is bound to prove money well spent for anyone undertaking a loft conversion.
Willow: A Guide to Growing and Harvesting Plus 20 beautiful woven projects By Jenny Crisp Jacqui Small £15.99 The beauty of willow is that it is a versatile and cheap material (you can grow your own) that can be used to make items that can cost a lot of money on the high street. Handy everyday uses range from baskets and trugs, to garden structures such as obelisks, hurdles and fences. Jenny Crisp has been a professional basket maker and willow grower for over 30 years. So who better to write a book that celebrates willow in all its various incarnations. In this beautifully photographed hardback, she explains the key aspects of basketweaving techniques and shows how to make woven objects for the home and garden without needing expensive tools. She also adds a contemporary twist to many otherwise traditional items.
Firing imaginations for over 37 years
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SelfBuild & Design MAY 2016
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UP IN THE CLOUDS Suspended on barely visible wires, the Cloud extractor hood from Franke boasts a curved and stylish design, seemingly floating above the hob. Available in grey or cool white, it is operated with simple illuminated touch controls. Three speed settings, plus an intensive option, provide high extraction levels, while LED lighting has a built-in sensor to automatically adjust its brightness. The Cloud measures 1,150mm wide x 225mm high and has an energy rating of A. Price: £3,995. (franke.co.uk)
Life in colour Inspired by The Wizard of Oz, Technicolor is the new coloured wooden floor tile collection from Domus, offering an impressive palette of colours which can be used in various combinations and patterns. Technicolor boasts a subtle woodgrain appearance with a natural matt finish. Tones include white, beige and black, along with 15 coloured shades, which come in one long rectangular shape. Price on application. (domusgroup.com)
CLASSIC CONVENIENCE Perrin & Rowe’s new traditionally styled kitchen taps, Polaris and Celeste, instantly provide water up to 98C. A selection of finishes include Pewter, 24 Carat Gold and Polished Brass, with stand-alone threein-one instant hot mixers and mini instant hot taps available, plus a collection of three-in-one instant hot mixers with side rinses. Each tap is hand assembled and plated, designed to provide 25 years’ domestic use. (perrinandrowe.co.uk)
INTRICATE DESIGNS CHALK FLOOR PAINT Chalky Finish floor paint can be applied to wooden or concrete flooring or directly over old paint or varnish to provide a fresh and long-lasting finish. The homeowner has the option of painting the floor one colour or creating a bold stencil design. First, the base coat is applied twice, followed by the chosen colour. Options include Chalk White, Anthracite and Winter Grey. Priced from £29.99. (makeityours.co.uk)
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ViPrint technology provides a selection of stylish options for Villeroy & Boch’s Subway Infinity shower trays, comprising 20 designs across four ranges. The Nature collection consists of distinctive wood and realistic stone textures, while Heritage is a modern interpretation on a classic pattern. Symmetry and graphic structures form the Geometry range and the designs are inspired by Villeroy & Boch’s popular floor tiles. Each design is integrated in the shower tray glaze, ensuring durability. There are 44 standard sizes, each with an anti-slip finish, and custom sizes can be made to order. Price: from £662.50. (villeroy-boch.co.uk)
On trend Ideas and inspiration
WINTER WARMER The California Grill from Lynx Grills is an outdoor kitchen that can be used in all seasons. Built to endure extreme weather conditions and heavy use, the stainless steel appliance comes with additional options such as an outdoor fire pit and further heating solutions. Prices start from £3,239 for a 27in grill. (bradshawluxury.co.uk)
ADDED SUPPORT This new collection of handmade brass and iron shelf brackets, inspired by historical references, comes in a range of styles, in seven metal finishes. Also on offer are specifically designed radiator brackets, which are available in 15 metal finishes, including aged nickel and matt chrome. They are sized to fit over the top of traditional cast iron radiators to allow a shelf. Price on application. (balineum.co.uk)
INSPIRATION
On trend
In and out Vintage meets modern The Capsule collection comprises three sculptural lighting designs created in collaboration with 2LG Studio. Available in four colour options including Tropical Green, Flamingo Pink and Electric Blue powder-coated paints as well as Brushed Brass, each light is pill shaped. The three capsules, Alas, Keski and Saldo, take inspiration from classic strip lighting with a contemporary twist. Price on application. (camerondesignhouse.com)
The Pivot shower door has been added to Merlyn’s Series 8 frameless range, featuring concealed fittings and a solid chrome handle. The door measures 1,950mm high with 8mm toughened glass, opening inwards and outwards for added versatility in any sized bathroom. Wet room compatible, the Pivot is available as a single panel, an incline panel for larger rooms, or as a double shower wall panel for corner pieces. Prices start from £634.80. (merlynshowering.com)
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BASEMENT Extending the basement has made space for a cinema room, accessed by a loating-tread staircase.
Suppliers Design The Property Service: tpslondon.com Builder Adam Builders Kitchen Roundhouse Kitchens: roundhousedesign.com Laminate loor and carpets Eclipse Flooring: eclipselooring.com Bathrooms West One Bathrooms: westonebathrooms.com Staircases Railing London: railinglondon.com Internal doors Express Bifolding Doors: expressbifolds.co.uk Kitchen sink and tap Finesse Kitchens: inessekitchens.co.uk
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INTERIORS Makeover
KITCHEN Two shades of Farrow & Ball paint finish the matt lacquer kitchen units and island.
INTERIORS
Open
spaces
The ground floor of a south London home has been opened up to provide unified living areas. Emma Davidson and her husband Graham bought a four-storey townhouse in Fulham in 2011. Although the seven-bedroom house was spacious, it soon became clear that a new layout on the ground floor was needed. Emma explains: “When we moved in we had two small children, and the ground floor of the house was a series of different rooms. We wanted it to be better connected, and for the girls to have a playroom, but we also wanted to be able to open up the entire space for entertaining.” While searching for their home, several houses they viewed had been renovated by the Property Service, a London company that specialises in buying, selling and renovating properties. Emma and Graham contacted them and plans were made to overhaul the period house. A small extension was added to the side of the property to allow for a large kitchen/diner to the rear, opening onto a small paved garden, while walls were removed or replaced with large doorways, so that rooms can be closed off when required to create a more cosy family space. Nicky Copeman, TPS’s co-founder, recommended arranging the interior into two larger rooms, but Emma and Graham were convinced a playroom for their daughters was an essential aspect of the design. “I regret that decision, because our daughters are now seven and nine, and no longer need a playroom. We are actually considering changing the layout again, to create two larger rooms!” says Emma, who also insisted on normal-height doors rather than TPS’s recommendation to have them almost to the ceiling. The basement beneath the home was dug out further, doubling its size to give it the same footprint SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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INTERIORS Makeover as the ground floor. This has become the cinema room, accessed via a floating staircase, the treads for which are attached directly into the wall and covered with laminate to match the flooring both in the basement and the ground floor. Toughened glass panels form the balustrade and keep the visual impact to a minimum while also allowing light to filter down into the subterranean level. Marble has been used throughout the house, including in the kitchen where it was used to form the splashback, the colours tying in with the matt lacquerfinish units and island. The designers at Roundhouse Kitchens recommended a different tone for the generous island, and so two Farrow & Ball paint colours were chosen, including Railings, a very dark grey, for the island, paired with a lighter shade for the side units.
EXPERIENCE What was your greatest extravagance? The marble and the kitchen, but both were worth the expense. What do you like most about your house? The master suite with walkthrough dressing room. Anything you would do differently? The layout of the ground oor – I wish I had listened and had two rooms instead of three. We now have a formal dining room in between the living room and kitchen which we never use.
BATHROOM Calacatta marble has been used to clad the bathroom to create an opulent en suite.
12 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
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SelfBuild & Design MAY 2016
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INTERIORS Makeover
BEDROOMS Neutral colours have been chosen, complemented with flashes of fuschia pink to avoid a ‘girlie’ interior.
Railings has also been chosen for the walls in the small courtyard garden, creating a connection with the garden and the interior of the house. Upstairs a small bedroom has been sacrificed to enable the creation of a marble-clad bathroom, incorporated into the master suite, which also includes a dressing room. On the top floor, two unevenly sized bedrooms have been modified to
make them both a more uniform size. The decor throughout is in muted tones, although Emma admits that this might change: “We painted everything in very neutral colours because the whole project was quite overwhelming, and once it was done we wanted a blank canvas, knowing these are decisions that can always be changed later.” Watch this space! LIVING ROOM Double doorways have been included to allow the space to be opened up when entertaining.
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DESIGNmatters
WINNER
PASSIVHAUS AWARDS 2018
Straw-bale system proves a winner A seductively simple self build utilising an innovative pre-fabricated strawbale/timber construction system has won a 2018 Passivhaus Award in the small projects category. The single-storey house is testament to the perseverance of architect and owner Juraj Mikurcik who battled with the planners for four years to achieve his dream of building on a rural site in Herefordshire. Situated in an informal courtyard made up of existing huts, the dwelling is cut into the existing ground to minimise visual impact. It faces due south to maximise the far-reaching rural views. The structure uses the Ecococon timber/straw prefab panel system which is a certified Passivhaus component, and allows for rapid and accurate construction. The external walls were erected in three days and the house watertight in four weeks. There were four runners-up in the small projects category, including a house in Emsworth (below) which was featured as a case study in the November issue of SelfBuild & Design magazine. The awards, hosted by the Passivhaus Trust, are designed to prove that a passive house can be built at any scale, in any style, on any site.
ROBUST DETAILING Juraj Mikurcik’s design embraces simple and robust detailing along with an airtightness strategy. The large south roof overhang, in combination with simple manual external blinds to south-facing bedroom and east/ west windows, provides a simple way of minimising the risk of overheating. Every space has a window which can be left open on tilt-in overnight. The exposed concrete slab helps moderate the temperature. A Zehnder Comfoair 160 MVHR with automatic summer bypass provides sufficient ventilation. Monitoring during the first year confirmed zero overheating as defined by Passivhaus.
NEW LIFE FOR WATER TOWER Peter Stanworth has turned a potential problem in his back garden into one-off guest accommodation worthy of a fairytale. When Peter, who lives in Warwickshire with his wife Janet, bought the smallholding it came with a water tower. Built in 1932, the tower was used for about 10 years, but was decommissioned when it developed leaks. “The impetus to convert it came when
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lumps of concrete kept falling off due to spalling,” explains Peter. Demolition would have been costly at around £50,000 as it needed to be pulled down piece by piece, while repairing the concrete would have been almost as expensive at an estimated £38,000. Peter had considered using it as a garden lounge, adding a fire escape salvaged from the local hospital.
As it is in the Green Belt, the planners would only accept it as holiday accommodation, so Peter turned to Nottinghamshire builder Anton Richards who has a passion for tackling unusual projects. The 12m concrete water tower on four legs with a pill box on top was just the project to get his pulse racing. Local Building Control enabled Anton to iron out issues such
as where to site the staircase as well as the challenges of the heavy clay soil and cutting into the existing Victorian drainage system. The 70 sqm bijou upside-down hilltop holiday let has two bedrooms – one on the ground and one on the first floor, with a spiral staircase leading up to the lounge in the old water tank, which offers spectacular views of Kenilworth Castle.
DESIGN
CABIN DESIGNED FOR NOVICE BUILDERS his woodland cabin, designed to create guest accommodation and as an independent play space for the owners’ children, is the brainchild of Winchester-based architect Andy Ramus of AR Design Studio. Sited on the edge of deciduous woodland, Andy’s brief was to create compact, offgrid, self-build ancillary space for the owners’ property. Part of the brief was to design the cabin so that it could be self built using simple techniques. This would enable much of the work to be carried out by the owners and their friends who had little construction experience. With just 25 sqm and a brief to sleep four, space was at premium. The cabin started out as a 6m x 4m box which was then manipulated to maximise the available floor area. To begin with, the roof was pitched in order to make space for a mezzanine. Then the volume was increased on one side to incorporate a storage without compromising floor space. Finally, the front truss was rotated towards the north-west in order to create a trap for the late evening sun and allow for a small sheltered terrace. In plan, a large terrace wraps around the side of the cabin for use during the warmer months. A modest kitchenette, living and dining space to the front takes advantage of the large picture window. At the rear are two children’s bunks with a double bed over at mezzanine level. Smaller windows provide framed views of the woodland from the sleeping spaces. The children’s bunks have direct access onto the terrace connecting their own personal spaces with the garden. The cabin will be constructed using four A-frame trusses. These can be fabricated off site and erected in a similar fashion to a barn raising. This frame can then be braced and clad using the skill set of the owners and their friends. The project will start on site before the close of 2018 with completion expected in time for the summer of 2019.
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Images: The cabin started out as a 6m x 4m box, and features four A-frame trusses. The frame will be raised like a traditional American barn. West elevation
North elevation
South elevation
East elevation
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 17
The appliance of SCIENCE Derek and Pauline Latham have built an eco house in their former garden that is being used as a test bed by university researchers. STORY: LOUISE PARKIN PHOTOGRAPHY: CAROLINE BRIDGES
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In brief Project Eco new build Location Derbyshire Cost Already owned Spent £1.15m Now worth £900k+
HOMES New build
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EXTERIOR Stone found on the site and sycamore from the neighbouring woodland are the main materials used in this striking eco house in a rural location in Derbyshire.
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Q
uarry Stones has been thoughtfully designed and positioned to ensure the lowest possible impact on its environment. Built using hempcrete, and timber from the neighbouring woodland, it’s an autonomous house generating more energy than it uses, which gets drinking water from a borehole, harvests rainwater, sends waste to a septic tank and is powered by a range of renewable technologies. Located in a former quarry, the house takes advantage of thermal mass from the huge recycled concrete and steel retaining wall that stretches across the rear of the site. It uses local quarry stone, and sycamore harvested from the woodland. The project is the culmination of Derek Latham’s long career in conservation architecture. Now semiretired, Derek has been on the panel for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in the East Midlands, is a founder member of Opun, a regional organisation working to improve the design of the built environment, and chair of Regeneration East Midlands. Through his own architectural practice, he has also worked extensively with clients seeking energyefficient homes, including those in sensitive areas. Derek and his wife Pauline, a politician, lived in an idyllic spot on the outskirts of a Derbyshire village for more than
HOMES New build
Paragraph 55 of the National Planning “ Policy Framework permits building in the countryside if the house is of exceptional quality or particularly innovative, so I produced a design for an eco house.
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30 years, but the house was large and the layout meant that most of the living space was rarely used. “We built a garden room on one side of the house to enjoy the view from that end, but it was a long way from the kitchen and living room and as a result, we barely used it,” admits Derek. The large five-bedroom Arts and Crafts house was built in the 1920s in a former quarry, and Derek and Pauline brought up their three children there, surrounded by woodland with countryside views. Once the children left home, they soon found that their lifestyle was better suited to an open-plan layout. The garden provided the perfect spot to create such a home, but the site is in Green Belt. A previous attempt to build a garage there had been abandoned, and the Lathams’ first application for a home was withdrawn when it became clear it would be refused because it was too large. Ultimately a rarely used clause in planning policy proved the key to the project’s success. “Paragraph 55 of the National Planning Policy Framework permits building in the countryside if the house is of exceptional design quality or particularly innovative,” explains Derek. “So I produced a design for an eco house, and this was supported by the Opun Design Panel members, which reassured the planning authority sufficiently for them to make an exception.” As well as creating a stylish, attractive home that nestles in the landscape, the property also acts as a test bed to
BALCONY Decking made of car tyres forms the balcony loor, with glass balustrading allowing an uninterrupted view.
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HOMES New build
In detail PROJECT Architect Derek Latham Structural engineer Steve Wickham – Price and Myers: pricemyers.com Consultant Arup: arup.com Groundworker JC Balls: jcballs.co.uk Plumbing, underloor heating, air source heat pump, mechanical ventilation and rainwater harvesting Orangehouse Renewables: ohrenewables.co.uk Electrician Paul Howitt: 07813 038024 Electrical supplier City Electrical Factors: cef.co.uk Drystone waller Ian Maskrey: 07817 311638
STRUCTURE Sycamore joinery Leafbone: 07941 942799 PV panels GB Sol: gb-sol.co.uk PV installer Greencap: greencapenergy.co.uk Sliding folding doors Sunseeker: sunseekerdoors.co.uk
Bedroom windows and patio doors Velfac: velfac.co.uk Kitchen window, doors Clive Toon Joinery: clivetoonjoinery.co.uk Roof lights Roolight Company: theroolightcompany.co.uk
FIXTURES AND FITTINGS Shutters Security Direct: securitydirectuk.com Light tubes Lightway Daylight: lightwaydaylight.co.uk Kitchen Poggenpohl: poggenpohl.com Worktop Silestone: silestone.co.uk Appliances Miele: miele.co.uk Floor tiles Country Tiles, Belper: countrytiles.co.uk Carpets Derbyshire Carpet and Flooring Company: thederbyshire carpetandlooringcompany.co.uk Staircase Clive Toon Joinery: clivetoonjoinery.co.uk Switches and sockets Wandsworth Electrical: wandsworthelectrical.com
ROOF A green roof is planted with sedum, wild lowers and herbs and provides an additional level of insulation as well as promoting biodiversity.
THE FLOORPLAN
The living accommodation on the irst loor comprises an open-plan lounge/dining/kitchen with bifold doors opening onto a terrace. Above is a mezzanine providing ofice space, while on the ground loor there are four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a utility, plant room, gym and workshop.
Ground loor
First loor
Mezzanine
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examine experimental techniques and low-energy ideas. Derek recruited the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Derby to monitor the house, which used it as a research project, testing energy usage, internal conditions and the weather to ascertain the efficacy of highly insulating natural products such as hempcrete, combined with renewable technologies. The cutting-edge home uses sycamore extensively. Not a conventional building material, the sycamore has a tendency to warp and split, and is also prone to attack by insects. Despite this, it was used to create a laminated post and beam timber frame, wooden flooring and exterior cladding. It was not an overwhelming success, however, as Derek explains: “Sycamore grows like a weed – it’s prolific and there were hundreds of sycamore trees surrounding the house in the woodlands here. The first tree we took down worked like a dream, but the next few split immediately. It became apparent that sycamores twist as they grow and so when chopped down, regardless of how carefully, they split as they uncoil.” Around half of the wood was wasted, making it unsustainable for broader use. “I wanted to find commercial viability but it’s just not there. The sycamores can suffocate other trees, and since they were removed lots of existing tree species have begun to flourish. We also planted many more trees than we took down,” he explains. The four-bedroom contemporary house is cut into a bank in the Lathams’ former garden, where a large retaining wall has been created from recycled steel, recycled aggregate and PFA concrete. This replaces 60 per cent of the cement with pulverised fuel ash to make pozzolana, a concrete product dating from Roman times. The thermal mass of the wall, together with that of the floor slab made using the same materials, regulates
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CONTRACTORS REQUIRED JOBS WAITING
STYLE...WITH CAST IRON PERFORMANCE
Dovre has over 60 years’ experience in manufacturing cast iron wood, multi-fuel, gas and electric stoves and fireplaces that are built to withstand the harshest of Scandinavian winters, to view the full range visit www.dovre.co.uk
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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HOMES New build
KITCHEN/ DINING/ LIVING The open-plan space uses contemporary high-gloss inishes, white furniture and lots of glass.
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the internal temperature of the home, and inside the face of the concrete has been left exposed and painted. An inverted layout means the living/dining/kitchen are on the first floor, flanked with full-height glazing along the south and west elevations to maximise passive solar gain while taking in attractive countryside views. A cantilevered mezzanine floor above provides study space for Derek and Pauline, with Vierendeel trusses and plywood gussets to support the structure which is formed of laminated sycamore. The rear retaining wall here is completely covered with storage cupboards to maintain a clutter-free space. There are four south-facing bedrooms on the ground floor. The master bedroom, which includes a hidden en suite and dressing room, has patio doors that open directly onto the private garden, with an entrance door providing external access for the other bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms have en suite bathrooms, the third bedroom is set up as a snug with a fold-out bed, while the fourth has been set up especially for Derek and Pauline’s grandchildren, with two bunk beds designed by Derek in ash and ply, each with access to a reading light and plug socket. There is also a family bathroom along with a utility room, which means all laundry is kept on the ground floor. A secret door in the guest suite opens to a plant room, which leads to a gym and workshop, its exposed walls showing the hempcrete, which is made from hemp shives and lime mortar, and combines insulation with thermal mass. The roof over the main living area is a uniform grid comprising photovoltaic panels and automatic roof windows, all of which appear identical from the outside. A hidden gutter along the top of the lower panels catches most of the rainwater off the roof. “It’s not a conventional way of installing a gutter but the panels overhang and a gutter at the bottom of them would not have worked,” says Derek, who harvests the rainwater and
uses it for irrigation, toilets and the washing machine. A green roof, which has sedum, wild flowers and a herb garden, covers the rear of the main roof and also the kitchen structure which is made of prefabricated hempcrete panels faced with paper to control their breathability, and clad externally with sycamore. An air gap prevents the timber from rotting. Fermacell panels have been used instead of plasterboard internally, chosen for their superior environmental performance as well as enhanced strength. The high-gloss blue and grey kitchen is from Poggenpohl with Miele appliances and a full-height drinks cabinet that can be closed away when not in use. Glass has been used imaginatively throughout the house to fill otherwise dark corners with natural light. This includes glass walkways and stair treads to the mezzanine, glass floors above the lower corridor, and sun tubes delivering daylight all the way into the lower level. Derek’s builder had done a number of jobs for him before, but halfway through the project he went bust. Derek, who was already managing the project, continued by employing the same team, but gradually SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 25
HOMES New build
BEDROOMS
The bedrooms and snug all have a view onto the private garden.
PLANT ROOM
The plant room has a large mural and mirrored doors to create a striking visual illusion.
they sought permanent jobs and left the site. Derek recalls his frustrations: “Management of all the trades was stressful as the work was unusual and unfamiliar to them. Subcontractors often didn’t show up, but without letting me know so it became increasingly difficult to manage. I should have halted the project and put it out to tender again, but I was keen to maintain momentum. It took much longer to complete than it should have.” Access to the hillside site was difficult, and caused a number of tense moments, particularly when constructing the retaining wall, lifting major steels into place by manpower, and bringing completed staircases into the house. Locally sourced sandstone has been used to clad the retaining wall as well as the lower portion of the front elevation of the house. A stonemason was on site for 18 months, building these and the garden walls, each stone carefully cut to shape. An air source heat pump powers underfloor heating, although there is very little need for it in such a highly insulated home, while an MVHR system ensures the air is fresh. In each of the downstairs bedrooms there is a vent connected to an earth tube. This technology, common in North America and Canada, uses the principles of a ground source heat pump, to supply warm air to these rooms. The system is being monitored as part of a comprehensive research project, with results expected in 2019.
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The inal word What was the high point? Finally moving in and dining on the terrace by the African ire pit in the evening. And the low point? The bankruptcy of the contractor. What was your greatest extravagance? The Poggenpohl kitchen. And your best buy? The dining table and the African ire pit that sits on the terrace. We had it made in steel and we absolutely love it. What do you like most about your house?
The light and views and connection with the weather in all seasons. Anything you would do differently? After the bankcuptcy, I should have stopped the work and tendered for completion with a new contractor.
SelfBuild & Design MAY 2016
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Wonder down under
Lynne and Harry Croft have expanded and remodelled their traditional family home, building a contemporary rear extension and a new basement.
In brief Project Extension and basement Location North London Cost £550,000 in 1993 Spent £950,000 Worth £6m+
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HOMES Extension and basement
STORY: DEBBIE JEFFERY PHOTOGRAPHY: WILL SCOTT/BELSIZE ARCHITECTS
“W
e bought this house back in 1993 and did a major renovation at the time, rewiring, re-plumbing and putting in new windows, as well as building a traditional single-storey extension with a bay window,” explains Lynne Croft. “Our two children grew up here, but once they left home we decided that the house needed adapting again to suit our lifestyle.” More than 20 years after first buying the three-storey, semi-detached Arts and Crafts house in Hampstead, Lynne and Harry have once again enlarged and remodelled the property for the next stage of their lives. “Our children often come to stay, and we have many visiting friends and family, so we need plenty of space,” Lynne explains. “The house was showing signs of wear and tear and there were damp problems in our kitchen, so we felt this would be a good time to give it a complete makeover.” The couple worked with Shahriar Nasser, founding director of Belsize Architects, a London-based practice with an international portfolio of critically acclaimed and award-winning buildings. “Shahriar was recommended to us by a family member,” says Lynne. “He advised that we should wait
EXTERIOR The dramatic new brick extension integrates the kitchen/diner and family living room over a new basement.
and complete all the work in one go rather than in bits and pieces. We listened to his advice, and although it took several years before we were ready to go ahead we’re glad that we did it this way.” The existing kitchen breakfast room was the most well-used space in the house but felt cramped and lacking in light. “We asked Belsize Architects to allow ample light and space as a priority for the SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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HOMES Extension and basement
BASEMENT The new partial basement is a multifunctional space for entertaining and accommodating guests, with a shower room and utility/ storage room. Three irregular walk-on roof lights drop additional light into the space.
extension and basement, which we needed to serve various functions,” says Lynne. “We also wanted the design to better connect the house to its surroundings, exploiting the levels to give views of the garden.” Shahriar designed a dramatic contemporary brick extension to the rear of the house, which combines at ground-floor level each of the functions of kitchen, dining and sitting room to create a place where the family can spend most of their time together. The extension is designed to allow the house to move further into the garden and be more engaged with the landscape and views, with the end wall accommodating a large window, framing the water features, pond and garden beyond. The patio between this extension and the side wall forms an outdoor ‘room’, complete with a fireplace, which is accessed from the house through two pivoting glass doors. “Shahriar has a reputation for designing exciting modern buildings,” says Lynne. “We wanted the light and views which glass would bring, but at the same time we didn’t want to detract from the existing house.”
KITCHEN Polished concrete looring was laid by the builders in the basement, the kitchen extension and patio, as well as on the external staircase. A joint-free tiled staircase leads down to the new basement level below.
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changes once “theAvoid design has been signed off because even small alterations have repercussions. Also, visit local shops if you can, rather than buying everything online, as you’re able to feel the quality and ask for advice.
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LYNNE’S TOP TIPS
Below the extension, a new basement level was designed with a connection to the rear garden through a semienclosed outdoor patio. Reached by a staircase in the family room, the basement serves as a multi-purpose room, and its unusual shape is complemented by irregular roof lights inset into the patio above. The basement also contains a new laundry room with storage, as well as a shower room, so that it can be used as a self-contained guest suite. Total refurbishment of the remainder of the house included the addition of new en suite bathrooms and walk-in wardrobes. The flat roof above the extension provides a generous terrace for the bedroom on the first floor, with broad views over both the side patio and garden. Two original formal living rooms had their doors re-sized to allow in more light and enhance the relation with the entrance hall. By intervening in this way Belsize Architects was able to add over 120 sqm of floor area to the property, all within a Conservation Area. “The planning process wasn’t too bad, and although we only wanted a half basement we gained planning consent for a full one as a precaution,” says Lynne. “One of the challenges was maintaining the design while keeping costs within our budget, so we made a few changes along the way.” The couple employed a building company after seeing their work on neighbouring houses and speaking to the owners, who recommended them highly. “In the SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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In detail PROJECT
STRUCTURE
Architect Belsize Architects: belsizearchitects.com Builder B&G Construction Engineering Ltd: 020 8740 4745 Quantity surveyor Cox Drew Neale LLP: cdnpartnership.com Garden design London Garden Designer: londongardendesigner.com Party wall surveyor Cusack Associates: cusackassociates.co.uk
Bricks Orange Gilt Stock Wienerberger: wienerberger.co.uk Glazing Northolt Glass: northoltglass.co.uk
FIXTURES AND FITTINGS Lighting Orlight: orlight.com Kitchen Lauren Nicholas: laurennicholas.co.uk Bathrooms Ceramica Flaminia: ceramicalaminia.it/en External ireplace Urban Fires: urbanires.co.uk Music system Sonos: sonos.com
BEFORE
THE FLOORPLAN An existing dining extension has been replaced with a contemporary brick kitchen/dining/living space on the ground loor over a new multi-purpose basement level.
THE BUILD A reinforced concrete box was formed by underpinning the rear wall of the existing house and constructing a similar reinforced concrete wall in the patio area.
early stages I tried to avoid visiting the site as it was too traumatic, with walls coming down and the basement being excavated,� says Lynne. The existing rear extension was demolished using small tools, with the assistance of a compact excavator which could be driven through the side alleyway. At ground-floor level the slab was completed before the bulk basement excavation took place. Meticulous underpinning was carried out in sections not exceeding 1.2m in length, with a maximum of two sections open at any time on each wall. Each excavation was then partly backfilled or propped to ensure stability until all sections were complete.
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BRICKWORK Brick was chosen to create an element of surprise. A razor-sharp corner of just 22 degrees has been achieved with bricks carefully cut and resinbonded. Deep brick reveals, sofits and sills help complete the illusion.
As underpinning progressed the steel beams were placed and the new slab was concreted in sections to serve as a rigid diaphragm, connected to the walls and providing an effective prop at ground level. A reinforced concrete box structure was formed by underpinning below the rear wall of the existing house and constructing a similar reinforced concrete wall in the patio area. After construction, a waterproof tanking system was installed, and a cavity drain system lines the basement, with new drains falling to a pump chamber. The slope of the land rising to the rear meant that the area closer to the extension needed to be made into a transitional zone between the higher levels of
HOMES Extension and basement
the garden and the lower level of the extension. This transition in levels is managed by creating benches and steps, as well as a pond, which provides progress to the flatter reaches of the upper garden. Viewed from outside, the extension appears to be hovering over the light well which connects the basement to the garden. Brick seemed the perfect material for the extension, as the existing house and those surrounding it are clad in brick and render. The design explores how brick could be used to create surprise, suspending acute-angled forms that are not usually derived from masonry. “Choosing brick was more expensive than rendered blockwork, but we love the contrast of the old and new parts of the house,” says Lynne. To achieve the razor-sharp corner of just 22 degrees, bricks were carefully cut and resin-bonded, which required exquisite workmanship to lay on site. Deep brick reveals, soffits and sills help complete the illusion.
GARDEN The extension connects directly to a semi-enclosed outdoor patio and overlooks the freshly landscaped rear garden. A side patio has been designed as an outdoor room, complete with ireplace.
result is a house where “ The we love to spend time.”
“Shahriar also helped with choosing things like the kitchen and flooring,” says Lynne. “Everything is simple and white, with a few touches of colour in the furniture and artwork which make the new spaces very relaxing. “Now we can easily entertain around 20 people in the kitchen, and we use this room all the time. It’s been a huge project, but the result is a house where we love to spend time and which suits all our needs.”
The inal word What was the high point? Moving back into the house and enjoying the new layout and views. …and the low point? The work took from September 2015 to June 2017 and was quite stressful because of the scale of the project. What was the biggest extravagance?
Incorporating so much glass into the design – there are some huge pieces. Also, we turned a bedroom into a walk-in closet. Would you make any changes? I would include a lift if it were possible, so that we can continue to live here comfortably into old age.
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SelfBuild & Design NOVEMBER 2018
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Radiating WARMTH
With a BTU rating of 3,443, the Immagina LED radiator is shown here in black, measuring 1,800mm tall. Its stylish design comes in two vertical models with optional built-in colour changing LED lights, controlled by remote. Price: ÂŁ5,128.80. (theradiatorcompany.co.uk)
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HOME HEATING Radiators
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odern properties often have several forms of space heating, from gas ires and wood-burners to underloor heating, which remains a irm favourite with selfbuilders. The humble radiator is as popular as ever. Many homes have underloor heating on the ground loor while upstairs there are radiators which are especially useful in bathrooms. As well as providing general and targeted heating, they can also be a real design statement. Before you get carried away selecting your favourite shapes and colours, it is essential to calculate your required heat output. This is measured in British Thermal Units – or BTUs. Inputting your room dimensions into an online calculator is a reliable and effective way of doing this. It’s important to get the right radiator for the room size. It will make a huge difference to your utility bills and ensure a comfortable temperature, which is exactly what your heating is for. Once you’ve sorted the calculations you can get on with choosing your preferred style, whether it is a traditional cast iron radiator with ornate detailing, or a sleek and sophisticated contemporary model. The former is becoming increasingly popular, adding a vintage touch to an otherwise modern room, while modern sculptural designs can add drama to a simple interior. The current trend for monochrome tones can suit a neutral scheme, though, as you will see on the following pages, a wide range of RAL colours can add a more personalised touch. Dual-fuel radiators have become more common, offering greater lexibility. Plumbed into the central heating, they also include an electric element so they can be switched on independently of the main heating system. This is particularly useful for towel rails, but can help warm up any cold spots in the home.
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4 1: Shown here in mid-grey sparkle, the Rococo stands 560mm tall with an intricate pattern. This slimline model has six sections, each with a BTU of 188. Price: £368.40. (castrads.com) 2: The Etam designer radiator is shown here in anthracite. Measuring 600mm x 860mm with 14 bars, it boasts a heat output of 5,780 BTUs. Price: £290. (easybathrooms.com) 3: Providing a heat output of 3,058 BTUs per hour, the contemporary mild steel Copy radiator comes in four designs, measuring 1,800mm tall with two width options. Shown here on the Kinetic model, the striped colours create a rainbow effect. Copy is available in 12 designs ranging from muted pastels to vivid citrus tones. Price: from £1,413. (aestus.co.uk) 4: The Vetro electric radiator has a travertine stone veneer inish with natural limestone markings. Fitted with an infra-red programmer and touch screen control, it is priced at £1,275 and comes with optional stainless steel towel rails. (frontlinebathrooms.co.uk) 5: Finished in chrome and shown here in the 450mm x 700mm model, the straight radiator also comes in white in a larger size. Price: from £75. (purebathroomcollection.co.uk) SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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6 6: Suave boasts a flat panel design and a high heat output of 3,156 BTUs. Shown here in pink, it comes in any RAL colour and costs from £819. (vogueuk.co.uk) 7: Made with low-carbon steel and a long-lasting anthracite finish, the triple panel horizontal Colosseum radiator is priced at £248.99 with a heat output of 4,378 BTUs. (soak.com) 8: The Panio Crystal LED picture radiator costs from £1149.99 for the 1,800mm x 445mm model. (agadondesignerradiators.co.uk) 9: This double flat panel horizontal radiator is made from steel and finished in gloss white. Priced at £309.99, it measures 1,596mm x 600mm with a heat output of 6,336 BTUs. (soak.com) 10: The hand-crafted Venus radiator is shown here in chrome, with smooth alternating convex and concave panels. Made from matt anodised aluminium, it has a heat output of 2,571 BTUs and costs £364.99. (screwfix.com)
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HOME HEATING Radiators 11: Finished in natural brass, the Neptune II is 620mm with curves and a ridged shoulder. It generates 352 BTUs per section. Price: £1,240.08. (castrads.com) 12: The Grace four-column low-level radiator is ideal for siting under the window. Finished here in Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke, each section boasts a BTU of 218. Price: £334.20. (castrads.com) 13: The VonHaus 2,500W oil-illed radiator has 11 ins for heating mid- to large-sized rooms. It plugs into the mains to offer three power settings, adjustable thermostat and a neutral design. Price: £49.99. (domu.co.uk) 14: Made from cast iron, the Arroll Neo-Classic four-column radiator measures 460mm x 874mm and is shown here in cast grey. BTUs: 2,736. Price: £368.99. (screwix.com) 15: The R70 stainless steel towel warmer can be itted vertically or horizontally and is available in four heights with 70mm round tubing. Suitable for all heating systems, it is priced from £742.80 and comes in a polished or brushed stainless inish. (aestus.co.uk)
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13 14 16: The Vision radiator features a full-length mirror framed vertically on each side by four tubular rails. Made from mild steel, it is shown here in chrome, and is also available in a white or anthracite inish. It delivers a heat output of up to 2,443 BTUs and costs £588. (vogueuk.co.uk)
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HOME HEATING Radiators
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1: The BDO step towel tail comes in white pearl (as displayed), chrome or black chrome in a number of models and sizes. This model is 1,500mm tall x 430mm wide, priced at £1,431.60. (theradiatorcompany.co.uk) 2: Shown here in black anthracite, the vertical Clarissa radiator comes in two sizes and is also available in chrome. BTUs: from 1,156. Price: from £269. (purebathroomcollection.co.uk) 3: Featuring a stylish sculptural design, the Contour is shown here with an anthracite grey powder-coated inish. It stands 1,775mm tall and emits 2,436 BTUs per hour. Price: £285. (frontlinebathrooms.co.uk) 4: The contemporary Daniella radiator has a BTU rating of 1,497. It has a contemporary design, measuring 1,400mm tall x 600mm wide. Price: £333. (purebathroomcollection.co.uk) 5: The boldly designed Lattice is made from mild steel and inished in anthracite. Measuring 1,800mm tall with a heat output of 2,276 BTUs per hour, dual-fuel and sealed electric element options are also available. Price: £372. (aestus.co.uk) 6: The Tesi Join comes in a choice of 188 RAL colours, displayed here in platinum with 10 sections. BTUs: 3,392 to 5,691. Price: from £1,125.60. (theradiatorcompany.co.uk) 7: Ideal for hallways, the Ancona radiator comes in mottled white gold with an oak top bench seat, shown here measuring 1,350mm x 460mm with ive sections. Available in nine widths and two heights, it has a BTU range of between 1,307 and 8,520. Price: £2,425. (theradiatorcompany.co.uk)
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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Party Proof Paving What are your first thoughts when visualising an outdoor space for your new home? Perhaps you imagine an area that allows for outdoor dining, for the kids to play on, or perhaps an area for entertaining guests? An outdoor space is great for a multitude of activities, effectively adding another room to the house if the rain stays away. However, with the fun comes the inevitable mess, spilled wine, ketchup, animal paw prints… the list continues, and cleaning up after accidental spills can end up taking up a substantial amount of time.
With these concerns in mind, Tobermore’s Mayfair paving range is now available with EasyClean – integrated stain resistant technology that repels and protects against dirt and stains. Tobermore’s EasyClean is a new concept for the modern home (and the first of its kind in the UK). EasyClean flags are treated with stain resistant technology during the manufacturing process allowing for built in protection, preventing spills from penetrating the surface of the paving and allowing for them to be wiped away with ease. As well as protecting against stains, EasyClean takes the work out of caring for paving, allowing you to spend more time enjoying your outdoor space and less time cleaning. Caring for EasyClean paving is a straightforward process as its coated surface allows for dirt and debris to be washed away without the need for vigorous scrubbing or power hosing. EasyClean paving stays looking fresher for longer and is less susceptible to weathering, moss and greening than traditional paving so you won’t have to clean it as often.
EasyClean is the perfect paving product for those who wish to keep their outdoor space as clean as the day they bought it. To find your nearest stockist please visit our website tobermore.co.uk or call our sales office on 0844 800 5736.
Mayfair with EasyClean SelfBuild & Design NOVEMBER 2018
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HAMMER IT HOME
STREETWISE The Street Art range from Saloni includes a choice of porcelain mosaic designs. Shown here in Azul, the tiles are also available in Rojo, Gris and Violeta colourways, and are priced from £67.20 for a 300mm x 300mm sheet. (saloni.com)
Available in three chip size variants, these hammered pink mosaic tiles also come in shades of aqua blue, beige and green. Made from highly reflective hammered glass pieces, the tiles are eye-catching and easy to install using mosaic backer sheets. Ideal for bathrooms, they cost £87.05 per sqm. (tilemountain.co.uk)
BRIGHTEN UP Alegria, part of the Ceramica Mosaic collection from Dune. The glossy glass tiles, shown here in green, come in a sheet size of 286mm x 286mm, for use on walls or floors in light traffic areas. For a more colourful scheme, Popcorn uses washed-out colours and a subdued pallet to display images from classic films. They come in 281mm × 281mm sheets. (dune.es)
PRETTY IN PEARL Mother of pearl mosaic tiles from Indigenous are available in white, grey, black, brown, blue or champagne. Farmed from freshwater shellfish and 100 per cent sustainable, they are suitable for all walls, including wet rooms. They measure 305mm x 305mm x 10mm, and have a smooth surface with various tones throughout the pattern. Prices start from £297.60 per sqm. (indigenous.co.uk)
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On trend Mosaic
THE MIDAS TOUCH These Midas mosaic tiles are made from a mix of natural stone, brushed copper and ivory tones of textured, gloss and matt glass. Each sheet is 8mm x 298mm x 304mm. The tiles have an easy-to-cut mesh backing, ideal when installing in tight, awkward spaces. Price per sheet: £5. (stonetilecompany.co.uk)
Rock on The Rock Art range from Craven Dunnill’s Renaissance collection is available in negro (as pictured), blanco and grigio. Supplied on a netted sheet, it boasts a hexagonal format and is made from glazed porcelain with a gloss inish. Rock Art is sized at 320mm x 290mm, and costs around £10.25 per sheet. (cravendunnill.co.uk)
INSPIRATION
Staying neutral The mosaic collection from Devon & Devon features meshmounted ceramic tesserae available in a variety of patterns and sizes, including 2mm x 2mm or 2mm x 5mm. Colour options include grey, black, white and pearl, each sold in a 300mm x 300mm format. Price: £116 per sqm. (devon-devon.com)
The Magic of Mosaic
A TOUCH OF DRAMA The Rhombi pressed mosaic tile comes in black glass and features a selection of matt and gloss pieces to capture and relect light. For use on walls, each tile is 7mm thick, while a sheet measures 323 x 291mm. Price: £45.54 per sqm. (toppstiles.co.uk) SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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HOMES New build
THE DESIGN Living in the house next door for several years meant that Suzanne already understood the site extremely well, as it shares the same views. “Faceting the glass doors in the curved wall was always going to be far more expensive than working with straight lines, but it was crucial to the design,” she says. This part of the house is designed to resemble the bow of a ship, projecting out towards the view. “The light in Cornwall is phenomenal, and glass was the most important element of the design. It connects you to the landscape and brings the whole space alive.”
Bay Watch First-time selfbuilder Suzanne Mackey has built a stunning seaside home with a curved glass wall overlooking Cornwall’s Harlyn Bay. STORY: DEBBIE JEFFERY PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN KELYNACK, STEVEN@SURFMEDIA.CO.UK
“M
y family and I fell in love with Harlyn Bay 13 years ago on our first visit to north Cornwall and by the time we left, a week later, I had bought a house there as a holiday home,” says Suzanne Mackey, a former trader in the City who lives in London. “I was looking for a project and a small business to run while bringing up my three children, so I renovated the property for our own use and to also run as a holiday let.” When the house next door to Suzanne’s Cornish home came up for sale she was once again tempted. Occupying an idyllic position on the north Cornwall coast, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Trelawney is less than two miles from Padstow with panoramic views of Harlyn and the surrounding bays. “There are no other houses in immediate view and the outlook is magnificent, so I decided to buy the dilapidated 1950s dormer bungalow, which had been badly extended in the past,” Suzanne continues.
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In brief Project New build Location Cornwall Cost Bungalow cost £519,000 in 2014 Spent £550,000 in 2016 Worth £1.4m. Trelawney is on the market with Rohrs and Rowe: rohrsandrowe.co.uk “At first I thought about another refurb, but soon realised that it wasn’t financially sensible and decided to knock down the bungalow and build a new house instead.” Suzanne had firm ideas about the type of house she wanted to build on the plot and worked with a local architectural practice to produce a design for the planning application which incorporates as much glass as possible. “I’d never built a house before and knew that the AONB status would place heavy restrictions on what was possible, but the old bungalow had a large footprint which made me optimistic,” says Suzanne. In order to emulate the original dormer bungalow as closely as possible, only two en suite bedrooms were located on the first floor, with a balcony to the master bedroom. Two further en suite bedrooms were positioned on the ground floor, where the open-plan living/dining/ kitchen faces seawards through a curved wall of glass. “Living in the house next door for several years meant that I already understood the site extremely well, as it shares the same views,” Suzanne explains. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 45
HOMES New build
In detail PROJECT Architect CFD Architects: cfd-architects.co.uk Builder Andrews and Mills Construction: andrewsandmills.co.uk Quantity surveyor Ed Crossley and Associates Ltd: eca-qs.com
STRUCTURE Glazing Camel Glass: camelglass.co.uk Balcony ACE Glass: acegeneral-engineering.co.uk Electrical installation Tom Jones Electrical: 07896 989167 Stone Contec Landscaping: conteclandscape.com Plumber KS Plumbing: 07713 562142
FIXTURES AND FITTINGS Furniture Goose Shed: gooseshed.co.uk Flooring Tre Concepts: treconcepts.co.uk Dining table Jo and Co Home: joandcohome.co.uk
Kitchen Howdens: howdens.com Music system Sonos: sonos.com Kitchen worktop Duchy Designs: duchydesigns.com Pendant light, living room Tom Rafield: tomrafield.com Japanese-style soaking bath Livinghouse: livinghouse.co.uk WCs and sinks, Zone range CP Hart: cphart.co.uk Taps and shower heads Hansgrohe: hansgrohe.co.uk Bathroom tiling World’s End Tiles: worldsendtiles.co.uk Garden furniture Trelawney Garden Centre: bluediamond.gg Electrical appliances Woolacotts Wadebridge: hbh-woolacotts.co.uk Log-burner Kernow Fires: kernowires.co.uk Shutters Hillarys: hillarys.co.uk Carpets Home Furnishings Wadebridge: homefurnishings wadebridge.co.uk
GARDEN The new house is next door to Suzanne’s existing home. The garden is designed to take advantage of the views. It has a irepit, undercover seating and an outdoor hot shower.
“Go with your instincts and don’t be talked into the easiest option.” SUZANNE’S TOP TIP
First loor
FLOORPLAN The 202-sqm house was designed with two en suite groundloor bedrooms and an open-plan living/dining/ kitchen space overlooking the sea. Upstairs there are two further en suite bedrooms and a balcony.
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Ground loor
“The glass-fronted design frames a 180-degree view of the sea and I included features such as a balcony, which I hadn’t been able to have next door.” Suzanne also took into consideration the weather, as the plot stands on a hill. This vantage point offers a dramatic outlook over the sea but also means the property is exposed to the elements. Doors were therefore located to the sides rather than the front, and the house has been repositioned further back on the plot to create a larger sea-facing garden. “The entrance door was located so that when you turn the corner you can immediately see the living area and the sea all in one hit,” says Suzanne, who paid to bury mains services underground to avoid power lines marring the outlook. “I like simple contemporary spaces, without curtains or blinds, and wanted to keep the focus on the view.” In addition to the curved glass wall in the main living space there is a sloping glazed roof above the kitchen, which drops light deep into the interior. “Coming out of the first-floor bedrooms and down the stairs you get a completely different view through the roof glass across sweeping fields to Trevone, which works so much better than just a flat roof,” says Suzanne. “I wanted to avoid designing an enormous house, which often happens in Cornwall where people cram monstrous, out-of-place properties on their plots. This also helped with the planning application, and my architects – CFD Architects – were able to guide me through the whole process.”
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Call. 01872 492 029 ¡ www.treconcepts.co.uk Showroom open Monday to Friday at Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Chapel Hill, Porthtowan, Cornwall TR4 8HL
SelfBuild & Design JULY 2018
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HOMES New build
My attention to detail “probably drove them mad but I loved the whole process.” The planners requested that the size of the proposed first-floor balcony be reduced, but other than that the application was approved without amendment. Suzanne then went to see 11 potential building companies who had been recommended by her quantity surveyor and architect. “I drove around to sites where they were working and spoke to them all,” she says. “As soon as I met Gus of Andrews and Mills I knew I’d found my builder. The company was finishing a beautiful house in Rock and I had an immediate gut feeling that they would look after me. I could see they weren’t scared of a challenge and knew I would get along with them. They proved to be absolutely superb.” Suzanne was determined to project manage the build herself, despite living in London. As a trader in the City she had been the only woman on her dealing floor with 200 men and was equally comfortable working with the team of builders. “Sometimes I struggled to read the plans on paper and it was a fast learning curve,” she says. “My attention to detail probably drove them mad, but I loved the whole process.”
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LIVING/ KITCHEN/ DINING AREA A wall of glass curves around the open-plan kitchen/dining/ living space to capture spectacular sea views. The contemporary kitchen and island unit separate the workspace from the living area. Seating areas in the living space include a study corner and a dedicated jigsaw table.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 49
HOMES New build
The existing dormer bungalow was demolished, and the site cleared in readiness for new foundations and structural steelwork. The house was constructed in rendered blockwork, with sections of timber and local stone cladding designed to visually connect the new house with Suzanne’s older property. “Work started at the end of August to avoid causing hassle for holidaymakers staying next door, which meant building over the winter months,” says Suzanne. “This did cause a few delays in the early stages and meant that the build took a few weeks longer than originally planned due to bad weather, but there were no major problems.” Aluminium-framed glazing was installed, with local company Camel Glass supplying windows, glazed doors, roof lights and a high-level clerestory window in the living room which captures the morning light. “Faceting the glass doors in the curved wall was always going to be far more expensive than working with straight lines, but it was crucial to the design,” says Suzanne, who wanted this part of the house to resemble the bow of a ship, projecting out towards the view.
MASTER BEDROOM Each of the four bedrooms has its own en suite. Two bedrooms are located on the ground loor with two upstairs. The master bedroom leads onto a private balcony offering sea views.
“I used Pinterest for ideas and had a box full of sample materials which I could then put together to check that the colours worked,” she continues. “The finishes were so important to me, and we ended up mixing different coloured stone for the parking area to get exactly the look I was after.” Wood flooring was laid over underfloor heating in the main living/dining/kitchen space, and a bespoke staircase with timber treads and glass balustrades was designed to rise up beneath the sloping glass roof to capture light and views. In the kitchen, a piece of timber has been attached to the island to create a bespoke breakfast bar. “My builders had the most talented carpenter, who copied a photograph I showed him and worked on the wood for ages to get exactly the look I wanted,” Suzanne explains.
I used Pinterest for ideas and “ had a box full of sample materials which I could then put together to check that the colours worked.
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HOMES New build
Local suppliers and craftspeople were used wherever possible, with other items brought from London. “I try to give something back to local businesses and tend to mix and match – choosing some expensive materials, like stone worktops,” explains Suzanne. Good-quality appliances and sanitaryware, clever storage and ease of maintenance were all considerations for the holiday property, which was completed in 2016. “The light in Cornwall is phenomenal, and glass was the most important element of the design,” says Suzanne. “It connects you to the landscape and brings the whole space alive. From upstairs you can look across to Constantine and the other headlands, which are all equally beautiful. It’s something you never tire of.”
UPSTAIRS A hand-built staircase leads up to two en suite bedrooms, and the sloping glass roof offers sea views and allows light to lood in.
From upstairs you can look across to “Constantine and the other headlands, which are all equally beautiful. It’s something you never tire of.
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The inal word What was the high point? I enjoyed all of it and am now planning to do it again! The amazing feedback from guests who have stayed in the house, commenting on how well the house works for everyone’s needs, has made me realise that my vision was a good one!
And the low point? Coming to stay in the house before it was inished and living with the builders for two weeks as they completed the inal bits and pieces was a little stressful. Your best buy? I bought a B&B Italia ex-display sofa very cheaply from a high-end showroom in King’s Cross but needed
to take a van and collect it myself at very short notice. …and the biggest extravagance? The enormous use of glass, and the stone worktops, which cost more than the kitchen units.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 53
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Restoring a
WRECK Stephen Nash and Miranda May took a tired 1890s cottage and worked with the existing features to create a beautifully designed home with bags of character. STORY: DEBBIE JEFFERY PHOTOGRAPHY: PIXANGLE/EMMA LEWIS
In brief Project Extension and renovation Location Hackney, London Cost £1.15m in 2015 Spent £180,000 Worth £1.4m+
“W
e’d been living in a topfloor flat and were looking for a project house with a garden, but it took six months before we found this cottage and by then we’d made offers on six properties and been gazumped on two,” says Stephen Nash. “Luckily, all of that happened for a reason because we found this place and genuinely couldn’t be happier.” The couple’s modest semi-detached Victorian cottage stands in a row of four similar properties which would originally have been built for workers. “I actually saw this one come onto the market and totally discounted it, because in my head I wanted a Georgian terraced house,” admits Stephen. “I didn’t mention it to Miranda because I knew she’d make me go and look at it, and I really didn’t want to.” The couple were hunting for an unmodernised property, and the two-storey semi ticked all their boxes, so when Miranda spotted an advert she immediately arranged a viewing, much to Stephen’s secret annoyance.
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HOMES Extension and renovation
“At first glance on paper this one looked a bit like my nan’s house,” he explains. “I don’t mean because it was dated and unmodernised – that’s what we wanted – but I’m from the Midlands where every single house seems to be a bay-fronted semi, and I was determined to live somewhere different.” As soon as the couple walked through the door however, they instantly fell in love with the cottage, and made an offer to the estate agent within the first 10 minutes. Following best and final offers they completed on the sale in October 2015. “Potential is a really overused word, but in this case it was absolutely incredible,” says Stephen. “The space had been badly utilised, with lots of small, weirdly shaped rooms and too many hallways. The galley kitchen was about the size of a rug, but the whole place was quirky, and the garden was just insane.” Miranda and Stephen sold their flat to buy the cottage and then needed to move in to live there. “It was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life,” says Stephen. “There were dead rats under the carpets,
PICTURES A new blockwork rear extension has been clad with charred timber to match the black aluminium glass doors, and the lat roof was planted with sedum.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 57
HOMES Extension and renovation
“Potential
In detail PROJECT
is a really overused word, but in this case it was absolutely incredible.
Design and project management All & Nxthing: allandnxthing.com Builder Gregos Builders: gregos.co.uk Architect Red Deer: reddeer.co.uk Structural engineer MRB Engineers: mrb-engineers.co.uk
STRUCTURE Aluminium glass doors IDF Aluminium Ltd: idfaluminium.com Skylight and oriel window box Maxlight: maxlight.co.uk
FIXTURES AND FITTINGS Bespoke kitchen Gregos Builders: gregos.co.uk Concrete loors and walls Kote London: kotelondon.com Bath Victorian Plumbing: victorianplumbing.co.uk Taps Studio Ore: studio-ore.com Log-burner The London Stove Company: thelondonstovecompany.co.uk
”
Parquet looring (living room) Kahrs: kahrs.com Marble loor tiles Mandarin Stone: mandarinstone.com Copper pipe towel rack Plank and Pipe: plankandpipe.co.uk WC wall treatment Martyn Thompson Studio: martynthompsonstudio.com Radiators Coventry Demolition: coventry-demolition.co.uk
First loor
Ground loor
THE FLOORPLAN The ground loor has been extended to the rear and walls removed to create an open-plan living/dining/kitchen. There’s also a snug and a WC on this level. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a new bathroom.
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THE BUILD The original property reminded Stephen of his nan’s house but he could immediately see its potential. Upstairs, the bedrooms were reconigured to make way for a bathroom, and by completely stripping back and rebuilding the rear of the cottage it was possible to steal enough space for a vaulted ceiling.
the electrics and shower didn’t work so we literally camped out, but I wanted to live there before making any radical changes, just to understand the building better.” Stephen is a designer by profession, with his own London-based studio, All & Nxthing, which specialises in interior design and project management. The studio prioritises individuality, using both modern and reclaimed textures. Working with Red Deer architects, Stephen began planning the project, producing sketches to revise the cottage layout and create a more workable floorplan. “I could see just how great the space could be if we opened it up,” he says. “There were two bedrooms and a box room upstairs, but no bathroom – that was downstairs in a converted coal shed at the back of the kitchen, with a separate toilet on the other side of the house. The most challenging part was figuring out how to keep three bedrooms and get a bathroom upstairs.” Converting the loft wasn’t an option, and initially Stephen and Miranda hoped to build a small two-storey rear extension, but the cottage stands in a Conservation Area and this was also refused. Instead, a single-storey ground-floor extension was approved, which enabled the couple to create an openplan kitchen/dining/living space overlooking the garden. “We disagreed about keeping the front reception room as a separate snug, which Miranda wanted,” says Stephen. “I preferred a completely open-plan layout, but I appreciated the logic of having a quieter room away from the main living space.” Upstairs, the bedrooms were reconfigured to enable a bathroom to be inserted. One bedroom had been previously split into two distinct sections on different levels, and by completely rebuilding the rear of the cottage it was possible to eliminate these changes in level and steal enough space for the vaulted bathroom. “If we couldn’t have raised that roof and changed the floor level there’s no way we could have got a bathroom up there,” explains Stephen. “It was the biggest headache of the whole project but turned out to be the best thing we did.” Once planning permission had been granted for the changes the couple moved into a rented flat on the other side of London for nine months while the entire house was stripped back and refurbished, with part of a chimney demolished and walls taken down.
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60 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
HOMES Extension and renovation KITCHEN/ LIVING AREA A combination of exposed brick walls and concrete gives the open-plan living area an industrial edge. A mixture of inherited, vintage and new items furnishes the space. Solid terrazzo 75mm kitchen worktops were cast in situ using stones from the garden, with reclaimed parquet used as a worktop for the island. Bespoke kitchen cabinetry, made by the builder, has been painted in Black Blue by Farrow and Ball.
SNUG The snug to the front of the house provides a relaxed space away from the main open-plan living area.
“We used a builder I’ve worked with before for clients’ projects, who was absolutely incredible.” “We used a builder I’ve worked with before for clients’ projects, who was absolutely incredible,” says Stephen. “Organising our project was very much a team effort between myself, the builder and Miranda.” The rear of the cottage needed to be taken down and rebuilt, using numerous steels to support the structure, and the flat-roofed extension opens onto the garden through black-framed Crittall-style doors. A new box bay window was also introduced in the kitchen, which has proved a popular sunning spot for the couple’s two cats. “Originally the blockwork extension was going to be finished in brick, but we later changed this to Corten steel,” says Stephen. “As the project progressed we realised that the steel would take us over budget, so we chose a charred cedar cladding instead, which ties in with the black aluminium doors.” The fibreglass roof to the extension is inset with a roof light, and all other windows throughout the SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 61
HOMES Extension and renovation
BATHROOM A new bathroom with a vaulted ceiling has been carved out on the irst loor, where plants now grow down the concrete wall. A cast iron bateau bath takes pride of place and a friend made the concrete sink as a moving-in gift.
“We wanted to prove that you can take a fairly modest cottage and work within a budget to make it into something special.
”
house were replaced with new traditional timberframed sashes. “There were grim security bars at the ground-floor windows and getting rid of these has made a huge difference,” says Stephen. Once the main structural work had been completed the builders could spread around the house and focus on the remaining tasks, including building new partition walls, rewiring, plumbing, plastering and painting.
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HALLWAY The staircase treads have been left uncovered in the hallway, where painted panelling was itted to walls.
“Only the snug floor stayed undisturbed, the rest was dug up for underfloor heating and we then chose a concrete floor finish,” says Stephen. “I love concrete, and the same company also gave us feature concrete walls in the new bathroom, as well as a concrete chimney breast in the living area. They cast the terrazzo kitchen worktops too, using stones from the garden.” The couple moved back into the cottage before the project was completed and lived there during the final stages of work. “Eighty per cent of the time I put ideas forward for the interiors that Miranda didn’t
HOMES Extension and renovation
MASTER BEDROOM A chimney space in the master bedroom has been cleverly utilised to make a vanity and dressing table area, concealed behind wardrobe doors. Walls are painted two tone both here and on the landing to create a sense of height.
necessarily agree with, and vice versa, so we settled on the things we both liked,” Stephen explains. The kitchen proved to be the easiest room to design, as Stephen had always wanted to incorporate a reclaimed parquet worktop, which features on the island. “One of the restaurants we really like in Hackney has a parquet bar, which gave me the idea,” he says. “Ours was reclaimed from a ballroom floor in Yorkshire and came with lots of scuffs and chips, which needed sanding and oiling before our carpenter could fit it. This was the starting point for the whole room, and we incorporated a U-shaped terrazzo section around the sink to protect the parquet from water damage.” One feature in the cottage which has remained virtually untouched is the staircase. This has been partially painted to match the blue walls and new panelling in the hallway, but after some debate the timber treads were left unfinished – exposing marks collected over many years. “We like the fact that the first thing you see when you walk into the house is this fairly scruffy looking staircase, because it tells a story about the history of the building,” says Stephen. “We wanted to prove that you can take a fairly modest cottage and work within a budget to make it into something special, contrasting the old and new to make a comfortable home which is the first house we’ve bought together.”
The inal word What was the high point? I enjoyed the excitement that comes with every decision. …and the low point? I found it far more stressful working on my own house than for clients. Your best buy? The new bathroom was such a pain to design, and even when we were building we were changing it, but now we love the bateau bath and the plants growing down from the structural steel. It’s deinitely our favourite room. …and the biggest extravagance? The Martyn Thompson wall treatment in the downstairs toilet, which I spotted in a magazine. It came from New York and cost around $450 a roll! Any regrets? It would have been helpful to add a irst-loor extension, but we really like the cottage style of the bedrooms. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 63
DELIVERING YOUR ENERGY EFFICIENT DREAM HOME At Frame Technologies we understand that every self build project is unique. Through a wealth of experience gained over two decades in the industry, the Frame Technologies team can help you through every stage of the design and construction journey - turning your vision into an energy eficient new home.
T 01544 267124 E enquiries@frametechnologies.co.uk W www.frametechnologies.co.uk Broadaxe Lane, Presteigne, Powys, Wales, LD8 2LA
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DESIGN Access & disability
Beginner’s guide to…
BUILDING FOR
ACCESS
and disability Designing a forever home for our changing needs and possible disability should be a key consideration for selfbuilders of all ages.
W
hat we want from our homes and what we can afford to spend changes throughout our lives - from young singles to growing families and retired couples – but self build can offer exciting solutions for all ages. Everybody fits into one age bracket or another, but categorising people by the number of years they have lived is a very misleading guide when it comes to our homes. Not all students are impoverished, not all families crave more space, and retired couples might prefer exciting contemporary homes to traditional bungalows. In a climate where the nuclear family is in the minority, many divorcees, middle-aged singles or older people left alone after the death of a husband or wife choose to build for one.
PICTURES A bungalow is the usual choice for people with mobility issues, but a lift can offer another solution if provision is made for one in the design of the house.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 65
One fact is certain, however, and that is that our tastes, finances and requirements will change over the course of our lives. Very few people live in the same house forever and, even if they do, they will probably extend, redecorate or alter the living accommodation to suit their changing circumstances.
Design When you consider the 1930s three-bedroom British semi you realise the rut that house plans can get into. Such a layout may suit some families, but self build has blossomed quite simply because no household truly conforms to a stereotypical way of life. We all have different size families, interests and priorities, and the best way to get everything you want in a house with absolutely no compromise is to design it yourself. An architect can put these ideas into practice, but it is important that you sit down and discuss your lifestyle and how the house will best serve you now and 10 or 20 years from now. The Lifetime Homes Standard is a series of 16 design criteria intended to make homes more easily adaptable for lifetime use at minimal cost. These criteria include parking, the approach to a dwelling (distance, gradients and widths), internal doorways and hallways, circulation space, bathrooms, glazing and location of service controls. More information is available at lifetimehomes.org.uk.
Layout Space costs, and it is important not to over provide. Using rooms for several activities is one of the best ways to save space and money, while a more openplan layout can accommodate larger gatherings. If you only have the occasional visitor, then a sofa bed in the living room may be all that you need. And don’t forget the garage in the space equation - which can double as a workshop with storage above. It is widely assumed that once children have left home empty nesters want to scale down and buy or build something smaller than their previous family home. This is not always the case. What couples actually seem to want is a revamped layout which puts less emphasis on bedrooms and focuses more on living and entertaining areas; an energy efficient house which is easy to clean and maintain and includes indulgences such as wine cellars, home cinemas, workshops and music or sewing rooms.
A FOREVER HOME Retired teachers Barbara and Simon Andrews built their new house with an eye to their future. The low-maintenance, low energy house has extra wide doors, and a ground-loor study/bedroom and wet room which are all designed for wheelchair access if required.
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Above: TV presenter and property developer Sophie Morgan, who has been an avid campaigner for improving disabled representation since she was paralysed in a car crash at the age of 18.
Suddenly the playroom and family room are redundant, making this an ideal time to start planning a new house based on your needs as a couple or single person. The end to family life may seem sad, but it is also the beginning of a new era which will revolve around your own requirements and, although you may opt for a smaller property in order to release locked up capital, the new house will offer the opportunity for sheer indulgence. For those concerned that fewer bedrooms could mean a lower resale value it’s worth remembering that, as long as a room such as an office or gym has the potential to be used as a bedroom, the layout of a house has no adverse effect on its value. For every person who builds a new home there are 15 more extending their existing homes. Extensions can be added as funds allow, and living in the property ensures that you are on hand to make day-to-day decisions during the build. Don’t be fooled, though the process can be messy, time consuming and hard work, and a poorly executed extension can negatively affect the price of a house. Bigger isn’t always better.
The older selfbuilder Those of retirement age may feel that they now have the time not only to proceed with a self build but to actually project manage it themselves. The average self builder is between 55 and 64 years old, but many self builds have been undertaken by people well into their 70s and 80s, and some even tackle the hands-on building work - which just goes to show that you can build your own home at any age – health and fitness permitting. The choice of plot is important. A level site avoids the need for steps or different levels both inside and outside the house. Proximity to public transport and other amenities should also be a consideration. Age UK offers advice on all aspects of life, from adapting your home and carrying out safety checks to grants and benefits. When building a home for your retirement it is wise to think ahead, and a bungalow or dormer bungalow could be a sensible option if you foresee stairs becoming a problem. Another alternative is to build a groundfloor bedroom and bathroom which could be brought into play at a later date to allow for single-storey living. With many couples and families now inviting an elderly relative to live with them such a layout could prove invaluable, as could an annexe which could bring in an income or accommodate a carer. Simple considerations can make all the difference, such as installing easy to use lever taps and handles,
DESIGN Access & disability Left: One of Sophie’s rental properties. The main bedroom has disabled access to the wet room en suite.
Right: Acrylic plumb accessible kitchen with drop-down microwave by Adam Thomas. Right and left: Conventional showers can be a hazard for the elderly or disabled. A walk-in or wheel-in shower, with a curbless entry will greatly reduce the risk of slips or falls.
Above: Electric lifts can make wall cupboards more accessible. This lift from Indivo can be itted to cupboards of 500 – 704mm in height and up to 2.4m long. The height can be extended to 900mm by itting a plate. The frame will adjust down from its optimum height by 430mm and extend toward the user by 180mm.
specifying non-slip flooring, and ensuring staircases are well lit, with handrails fitted on both sides. There is no fixed maximum age for applying for a mortgage but most lenders will have their own age limits regarding when you can take out the mortgage and when the mortgage term ends. A self-build installment mortgage follows more or less the same criteria as any domestic mortgage. Essentially, the lender needs to know you will have enough income to service the loan and will normally calculate how much you can borrow by multiples of your current income. If, however, the term of the mortgage extends beyond retirement age then the lender will want proof of income in retirement, such as a pension scheme or interest on investments.
Disability Part M of the Building Regulations requires all new homes to consider the needs of disabled occupants. This is to ensure available and usable access for disabled people to the entrance storey, all habitable rooms in that storey and the WC. In brief, this means that the entrance door, corridors and internal doorways must comply with the minimum widths shown on the tables in the regulations. A toilet must be reasonably proportioned and made accessible; switches and plugs should generally be set in a band of between 450mm and 1200mm from the floor for
BATHROOM ACCESS To be large enough for wheelchair access there should be space for a 1.5m turning circle. A wet room with a shower seat and grab handles is recommended, while a wallhung toilet is essential.
easy reach, and access to the entrance door should be level, ramped or - in certain circumstances - stepped. These elements may cost the self builder a little extra at the build stage but could save thousands of pounds in expensive alterations in the future. Consider also incorporating gadgets such as a built-in vacuum cleaner, an intercom between floors, an alarm system and even a lift - which are all far easier to install at the build stage. Larger bathrooms allow enough space for a wheelchair, and to transfer to the toilet. It’s essential that walls and ceilings are strong enough to fit supports and hoists where necessary, and it should also be possible to install a level-access shower with controls within easy reach. Kitchens need to be big enough for a wheelchair user to get around, with lower worktops, and companies such as Howdens Joinery produce kitchens with pull down shelving and worktops that move up and down at the touch of a button. Taps can be moved closer to the edge of the sink, allowing wheelchair users to rinse vegetables and wash dishes without having to reach across. Tower storage units have pull-out shelves to save wheelchair users from reaching into the cabinet and raising cabinets from the floor makes room for a wheelchair footplate, while for the visually-impaired contrasting worktops and handles are easier to identify, making it simpler and safer to navigate around the kitchen. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 67
THE EXTERIOR The highly contemporary home retains an agricultural feel, reflecting the buildings that once stood on the site. Large glazed door openings are flush with the terrace to provide easy access.
A GOOD FIT for Kit Architect Martin Bell has designed a striking contemporary family home specially tailored to the needs of its owners. PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL LEACH
W
hen Jo and Charles Van Berkel found it near impossible to find an existing house to suit the needs of their eight-year-old son Kit who has cerebral palsy, they decided to self build instead, choosing architect Martin Bell to design a home that would meet all their requirements. They commissioned him to replace an old four-bedroom bungalow along with some outbuildings on a Green Belt site near Harrogate. Martin had convinced them he could design a beautiful house that needn’t look like a disability home. The strikingly contemporary new timber-frame house sits on the footprint of the bungalow and a former piggery, and at just under 90m long is designed not only to cater for Kit’s needs, but for his carers and his brother Oliver as well. “Our main aim throughout was to deliver Kit a home that integrates all the family, provides flexible space, and makes the best use of all aspects of the site and its surroundings,” Martin explains. “This was delivered through an uplifting architectural design, creating a large open-plan central space, having large windows taking in the views on the site, with a technology-based infrastructure to allow future changes to the use of the house as Kit gets older, and allowing for the seamless integration of Kit, his family, his care team and visitors in day-to-day life.” At 400 sqm the house is around 2.5 times bigger than the old one so Martin needed to demonstrate special circumstances to justify the increase in size for the Green Belt site. “We were given trade-off against the volume of the outbuilding, which was reduced, making the overall area developed only slightly bigger than the existing,” Martin explains. Internally, the layout has been designed for Kit’s needs, with no barriers, visual or physical, within the main living space. All doorways are wide enough for his wheelchair, and most doors can be controlled automatically. Kit’s bedroom, bathroom and the playroom that he shares with Oliver all feature specialist equipment, including discreetly recessed ceiling tracks for hoists. But in keeping with the philosophy that the house needn’t look like it was designed solely for adapted living, the interiors are full of light and striking architectural features. transformarchitects.co.uk
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Above: TV presenter and property developer Sophie Morgan, who has been an avid campaigner for improving disabled representation since she was paralysed in a car crash at the age of 18. Above right: One of Sophie’s rental properties. The main bedroom has disabled access to the wet room en suite.
DESIGN Access & disability
Designed for disability l
l l
l l l l l l
Underloor heating and above-standard insulation for even heat distribution Automated door openers Flush track hoists in the master bedroom and specialist bathroom Height adjustable bath and sink Wash and dry toilet Carer’s accommodation Cat 5 cables in each room Open-plan living Aluminium doors and windows SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 69
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INTERVIEW Dr Steffie Broer
Better
together
INTERVIEW: DEBBIE JEFFERY
Describe your childhood homes I was inspired by our family history: Grandad’s company developed solutions in response to the oil crisis, and my father took over the company. They were producing super-energy-efficient windows and heating systems, and when my parents built their own house in Paderborn - a city in western Germany - they installed a ground source heat pump and underfloor heating, which was pioneering at the time. It was a really comfortable home, which we moved to when I was six, and where my parents still live now. When I was a child the local children used to play outside in communal, pedestrianised areas until it got dark and I wanted my own kids to grow up in a place where they could go outside and be safe. That was one of the reasons for building my first home at the Ashley Vale self-build community.
What inspired you and how did Bright Green Futures begin? From an early age I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world, but for a long time I could not work out what that looked like and drifted from one thing to the other, finding it hard to settle on my chosen path. I was rebellious and didn’t want to do anything relating to the family business. After my A-Levels I took a gap
year, which I spent in the States on a school exchange, and that gave me the travel bug. When I came to England on a work placement at the age of 19, I met someone studying Environmental Sciences. They took me to their university and I really liked the people, so I applied to take the same degree. Even though I was moving abroad my parents were pleased when I decided to go to university, as they were worried I’d continue to be a hippy and keep travelling for the rest of my life! I then chose to take my Masters in Applied Energy and Buildings at Cranfield University. I was first inspired by my politics teacher when I was 12 as she was so passionate about creating solutions to environmental problems. I was also hugely inspired by my grandad and my father, whose business pioneered technical solutions that addressed the oil crisis and climate change. I worked for eight years as an advisor for Sustainable Energy Solutions at ESD, and later got a scholarship to complete a doctorate in engineering. My publication on how to achieve low-carbon livelihoods in new-build housing communities won an award and I went straight on to launch Bright Green Futures. The idea was to create communities where people can build their own highly sustainable homes. My first development was The Courtyard
Dr Steffie Broer is the founding director of Bright Green Futures, the UK’s leading provider of eco self-build communities. The company buys land, sells plots to selfbuilders and supports them in setting up communities and building their homes by offering tours, workshops and coaching sessions. Steffie has lived in communities in Spain, Chile, Germany, the UK and Sweden, and has led several eco construction projects around the world. She has a Doctorate in Engineering from UCL’s Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience, where she studied eco self-build communities worldwide to find out what delivers true benefits to selfbuilders and what makes a significant contribution towards solving climate change.
Right: The idea behind Bright Green Futures is to create communities where people can build their own highly sustainable homes at significant savings. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 71
INTERVIEW Dr Steie Broer - Bristol’s irst purpose-built co-housing project, and the irst project to pilot selfbuild for rented accommodation. Next came The Bower, a community build project of 14 homes which was granted planning permission in June 2017 and was then sold on to a community group. Now I’m working on Water Lilies: a 33-home development. There are now six of us in the company, but we still work around my kitchen table. Living in such a beautiful house that we built ourselves, I don’t really want to work anywhere else. Everyone loves coming here and it never actually feels like work.
What does the company ofer? Bright Green Futures makes self build easy. You can build your home, ask us to build one for you, or commission us to build the shell and you complete the inside. As we are a social enterprise we also pass on signiicant savings and provide training and support. Your home will be sustainable, resilient to climate change, crafted to your lifestyle and embedded in a proactive and friendly neighbourhood. We work with our mortgage advice partner, Buildstore Mortgage Services, as well as ethical banks and private lenders to gather information about the best inance deals for each build, with workshops and mentoring along the way, all of which is included in Bright Green Futures’ offering. Water Lilies is an upcoming cuttingedge, eco self-build co-housing project, designed in collaboration with individual selfbuilders and Sam Kendon of Marshall and Kendon Architects. The self-built and self-inished homes are located in woodland and parkland, where the residents will share a community space and fabulous garden with a water lily pond. They will also have their own private gardens.
Above and right: Stefie and her three children live at The Courtyard, a community self-build project where each home has been individually designed by the owner or tenant.
Describe your current home I’ve lived in communities in Spain, Chile, Germany and Sweden, and led several ecoconstruction projects in Germany, Portugal and Spain, as well as the UK. My irst selfbuild memories are of laying blocks with my new-born baby, Isham, on my back. Isham’s irst memories are watching diggers and smiling at builders from the baby bouncer in the entrance to our temporary trailer home. This was at The Yard, an emerging self-build community in St Werburghs in Bristol. I now have three children, aged 16, 13 and seven, and we live at The Courtyard, my second community self-build project where each home was individually designed by the owner or tenant. My home is timber framed and highly glazed, with 300mm thick insulation and designed to Passivhaus principles. PV, solar hot water, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems were also installed. We make more from the Feed-In Tariffs than we pay for energy and have the only A-rated houses in Bristol.
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Left: The Yard, Stefie’s former home on a community self-build site at St Werburghs in Bristol.
I’ll be building again, as I like to be involved in each new project. When construction inishes, I enjoy contributing to getting residents to gel, which is an exciting period.
What are the beneits of building and living as a community? Building together offers huge advantages: you can recommend tradespeople and building products to one another and work on each other’s houses. Using other people’s construction waste and off-cuts helps to keep costs down and materials can be bulk-bought at discounted prices. The result is a caring neighbourhood where you know one another and contribute, from working together in communal gardens to helping with childcare. There are no requirements to take part, so individual levels of involvement vary widely, but living surrounded by great neighbours can provide help with practical issues as well as emotional support. It’s also great for kids. Having a communal garden and car-free development with
cars parked at the entrance to the site or underground means they can play safely outside and become independent from a young age, generally preferring to run around outside to staying at home watching TV. It’s lovely to live with so many friends, but I also like my own space and that’s possible within a community too. I’m currently writing a book called “Radical Living – How To Build Your Dream
Home and Community”. It is about why you may want to live in an eco self-build housing community and how to make it happen.
Any future plans? We’ll soon be launching phase two of Water Lilies. It will be wonderful to irst create and then live in such an inspiring place together. stefiebroer.com
WATER LILIES An artist’s impression of the Water Lilies development, where phase two is about to begin. Anyone who would like to be offered the opportunity to buy in can register their interest at: brightgreen futures.co.uk. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 73
All change David Stanley has completed a major remodel and extension of a 1950s house, jointly managing the project with his wife.
M
y wife, Lucy, and I wanted a fourbedroom detached family home in Dorridge, Solihull. Having lost previous bidding wars for properties in the area over a 12-month period, we decided to take a proactive approach. Lucy instigated a letter drop to the two roads that appealed to us, dropping over 70 handwritten letters to the residents informing them of our chain-free position, our requirements and our budget. A couple of owners contacted us, and we eventually settled on a 1950s four-bedroom detached house in need of modernisation. We agreed a price relatively easily, having done some market research to come up with what would be a reasonable offer. The owner was more than happy to proceed, especially as the deal avoided the need to appoint an agent and the hassle of a potential chain purchase. The owner was downsizing to a retirement apartment that was still under construction, so we had the luxury of having some time to carefully plan a major refurbishment. In the six months from offer to completion, we embarked on obtaining planning approval for a significant redevelopment of the house. This included the creation of a large family room, kitchen, home office, playroom, lounge and four good-sized bedrooms. Lucy and I both work in the construction industry as project managers, so we have a keen eye for detail,
PICTURES The Stanley family, and their revamped and extended 1950s home in Solihull.
and are used to working to a budget and time frame. We prepared a 20-page schedule of works and formal drawings which provided the basis to invite tenders. Having initially considered 12 contractors, we narrowed it down to four to tender for the scheme. We opted for a local contractor who was well known in the area. We chose him based on his experience and his willingness to complete the tender schedule. We prepared a contract using a JCT form which I would highly recommended as protection for both the client and contractor and is money well spent on any major project. Works started in September 2017, exactly one day after we got the keys to the house. The rear demolition, construction of the foundations and the remodelling of the existing house were all done in unison. We gave our contractor a highly ambitious target of just six weeks to complete the internal works to allow us to move into part of the house. OLD AND THE NEW The new rear extension replaces the former conservatory (right), and doubles the living space.
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READERS’ HOMES
In brief Project Renovation and extension Location Solihull Cost £715,000 Spent £152,500 Worth £925k + KITCHEN The Hacker kitchen is itted with high-end appliances.
“Only consider variations that will benefit the scheme and/or make things easier to build.”
This initial phase included replacing the windows and doors, remodelling all the bedrooms, bathroom and en suite fit-out, new electrics and heating, plastering the walls and ceilings, and replacing the carpets. The project hit the first obstacle when asbestos was found in the lining to the external flue. Reluctant to dip into our contingency fund, we sought guidance from a CDM colleague who referred us to the local asbestos inspector at Solihull Council. The council was excellent and talked us through the whole process – from buying the correct protective gear, to the safe removal, bagging and disposal of the potentially hazardous material at a registered asbestos handling centre. The whole process took just 24 hours compared with a potential two-week wait for an approved inspector and contractor to remove it at a significant cost. Lucy and I managed the build, keeping daily checks on progress and booking trades well in advance. These were regularly contacted to confirm they were still available at the required dates so there wouldn’t be any ‘no-shows’. Agreed payment terms were also vital to guarantee the smooth transition between trades. We employed a number of the trades directly to save money and to ensure greater control. These included the window contractor, electrician, plumber, kitchen fitter and flooring contractor. This worked well on this project, but without construction knowledge and particularly with phasing and planning, I wouldn’t recommend this course of action for a novice selfbuilder. Main contractors have this specialism in-house, and if in doubt you should appoint as many subcontractors as possible via your main contractor so they have the headache of coordinating their various roles and timings. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 75
READERS’ HOMES We moved in in November 2017 as planned, with work continuing on the rear extension and the ground-floor modifications. With winter approaching, keeping momentum on site became paramount. Only a handful of days was lost to bad weather, predominately as a result of bricklaying which had to stop when temperatures dropped below 2°C. Our main feature glazing proved to be an interesting purchase. Requiring a U-value below 1.1 to achieve the overall weighted value for Part L compliance, we chose a German Schuco lift-and-slide unit. The timing of the installation was critical to ensure the opening was formed for final site measurements to be taken three weeks prior to manufacture. This was one of the most stressful times THE BUILD The 1950s house was stripped back to the shell and signiicantly extended and remodelled.
First loor
FLOOR PLAN
Ground loor
The new loor plan maximises open-plan living space, with a separate home ofice, play room, formal lounge and utility all on the ground loor. The upstairs was remodelled to incorporate a larger fourth bedroom, a gallery landing with natural light, a larger family bathroom and a dressing room off the master bedroom.
of the build due to the required precision of the opening measurement. To complicate matters, the floor hadn’t been screeded so it had to be laser measured as to where it should be set in relation to the window cill. As we wanted a flush threshold, the build-up of insulation, screed, acoustic mat and timber floor had to be precisely set out within a 5mm tolerance. In the end, the tolerance was within 2mm. Natural light was a major consideration in our design, particularly as the main elevation was on the north facade. Lucy was keen to introduce a skylight to flood the rear of the family room with natural light. After much contemplation, we agreed on a 4m x 2m skylight over a seating area which aligns with the lift-and-slide door and rear garden steps. Ever the perfectionist, Lucy also likes things to be symmetrical! At the peak of our build, there were 14 subbies on site, which challenged our management skills with not only keeping the working areas free and tidy but also with the site logistics of deliveries, skips, and general safety and welfare. Having two small children and running a consultancy construction business from the spare room added to the daily challenge. To avoid the noise I would frequently pop to the local coffee shop to take a conference call with a client before shooting back to liaise with the builders. For the ground-floor rear extension, we chose a wet screed underfloor heating system. The installer had quoted a drying time of four to six weeks before a timber floor could be laid. As it turned out this was more like eight
To avoid the noise I would often “ pop to the local coffee shop to make Previous plans
76 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
a call to a client before shooting back to liaise with the builders.
”
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SelfBuild & Design MAY 2016
77
READERS’ HOMES LIVING AREA The open-plan living area is looded with natural light through the large roof light and lift-and-slide glazed doors.
KEY CONTACTS Architect Iain Denton Architectural Design: iaindenton.com Project manager David Stanley: dstanley.com Contractor Use Your Space: useyourspace.co.uk Kitchen Hacker: hacker.ae
Windows Mainstream: mainstream-doubleglazing.co.uk Lift-and-slide doors Schuco: schuco.co.uk Bathrooms Bathstore: bathstore.co.uk Timber flooring Havwoods: havwoods.co.uk
OUR 10 TOP TIPS FOR A QUICK AND SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
1 2
Design it properly first, schedule all the works and stick to it.
Don’t issue variations and do not change your mind. Only consider variations that will benefit the scheme and/or make things easier to build. If you do change your mind this will not only cost you money but will have significant implications on your programme as trades will go out of sequence.
Builders have a wealth of experience so use it to your advantage. Ask for their opinions; builders love to feel they are adding value to your scheme.
3
Agree a programme with the builder and monitor it daily. If a trade doesn’t turn up for a day, phone them and find out why. If in
4
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doubt, ask for the supply chain contractors to be changed if procured via a main contractor.
5 6
Book everything early: all direct orders, surveys, Building Control inspections etc.
Inspect all the works regularly, daily if you can. Don’t wait to be offered something to inspect. If you see something that looks wrong ask the question. Problems are easier to put right part way through a project than at the end.
8
Agree all finishes early, even down to the door handles and paint colours. Leave nothing pending and remember to get everything in writing. Make any decisions promptly as time will impact on completion and cost.
9
Have good project accounts, agree all variations before you instruct them and leave nothing until the works are complete to agree. You want a running total of the whole project cost down to the nearest pound.
10
7
Agree a payment schedule so you have no arguments about payments or invoices. Never pay up front. Agree milestone payment releases and then pay them immediately. We paid on the day of each invoice to ensure cash flow to the builder wasn’t a problem. Hold a retention for snagging. Consider holding money for three to six months. Typical retention should be 2.5 to ive per cent of the contract value.
The inal word Our high point Getting watertight and seeing the rear extension go from a vision to reality. Our low point Living on site with just a layer of plywood between the living room and a foot of snow. Our best buy The glazing – it has completely transformed the place and is worth every penny. …and our biggest extravagance The Hacker kitchen and high-end appliances.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE
HOW THE BUDGET WAS SPENT
• Foundation
Foundations Blockwork and frame Roof Internal modifications Windows – general Skylight Lift-and-slide door Porch and garage door Kitchen Electrics Plumbing Bathroom and en suite Driveway Hard landscaping and drainage Rendering Fees Total
• Blockwork up to • window height • Roof • Windows • Weathertight • Internal walls • Plastering • First fix M&E • Second fix M&E • Doors/skirting • Decoration • Completion
£13,000 £10,000 £12,000 £15,000 £10,000 £5,000 £6,000 £8,000 £20,000 £10,000 £10,000 £12,000 £8,000 £7,000 £2,500 £4,000 £152,500
weeks, no doubt due to the foot of snow outside and the extremely cold conditions. Once heat was applied it was increased by 1°C per day over a four-week period to slowly bring the screed up to temperature. A few tips here: do not install hardwood flooring until you are sure the floor is dry and the environment suitable for the natural timber. Allow the timber time to acclimatise before laying commences. The minimalist open-plan kitchen has a quartz worktop with a quartz-wrapped island to comfortably seat four. The kitchen was supplied by Hacker in Germany with the quartz independently sourced from a stone merchant in Bromsgrove. The benefit of a Hacker kitchen, apart from the fantastic build quality, is that it arrives ready-built and in well-labelled protective boxes. It went together like a glove, assembled by our fitter and installed within three days. The quartz was installed a week later. As the kitchen was built off-site to laser measurements, we opted for a 100mm tolerance at the end which is neatly concealed with a matching panel. The kitchen is now the heart of the home and the focus point for everyone in the house. Engaging the local Building Control officer early paid dividends. Throughout the process he was invited out to inspect the works and was referenced for a number of decisions early on to avoid challenges and delays later in the process. The project was completed in January 2018 which was remarkable given the extent of the works. Upon completion of the main works, we waited for the weather to improve before carrying out the rendering to the front of the property. The final works included the hard landscaping to the rear and the new drive to the front. David Stanley specialises in project management and mechanical/electrical services consultancy. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 79
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A slimline O
solution Formerly a tired, downbeat office, this narrow six-storey house has been given an extensive makeover to become a modern, striking four-bedroom home. PHOTOGRAPHY: BRUCE HEMMING
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riginally a townhouse, this unusually narrow 19th-century building had been used as offices for some time before a large renovation transformed it back into a tall, stylish four-bedroom home. A modified layout was produced, giving the interior a soaring six-metre double-height kitchen/diner opening onto a small ground-floor courtyard, with a split-level studio space on the roof with terraces to front and rear, and redundant storage spaces becoming a state-of-the-art gym and cinema. The existing five-storey Narrow House was tired and dated with a layout unsuited for office use, as FORMstudio architect Mike Neale points out: “The building was made up of a series of small, cellular rooms connected by staircases more appropriate for the layout of a house, which of course is how it was designed in the first place. Fortunately, the planners agreed even though it’s in a central business area, and so gaining consent was actually easier than you might think.” The terraced house has a building on each side and another to the rear, meaning access could only be gained from the front. Flying scaffolding was used, which is
HOMES Oice conversion
supported between two buildings and does not touch the ground. One of the neighbouring properties has a sloping glass roof, so work had to be carried out with great care. The rear section of the first floor was cut away to allow for the double-height kitchen, with an immense sixmetre window fitted to ensure natural light penetrates the depths of the long, thin building. A mezzanine above the kitchen has a glass balustrade that ensures light filters into the study and seating area, and a sitting area is positioned to the front of the first floor.
The former ofice block has been itted with large windows with slim glazing bars supplied by Fineline Aluminium. The sliding doors and windows in the top-loor studio are from ID Systems, SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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HOMES Oice conversion
Two bedrooms, both with en suites, are located in each of the upper two floors, and a new space has been created at the very top of the house to add a sixth storey. The existing pitched roof was removed and a split-level studio added, with terraces to the front and rear. The new element is not visible from the front, however, because the building is in a Conservation Area. Living accommodation is positioned strategically to the front and rear of the elongated house, allowing storage, bathrooms, shower rooms and a utility room to cluster around the central lift shaft which was retained, given new motors and refinished. Staircases were also replaced or renovated to bring the entire building up to date. New life has been breathed into the house through a selection of high-quality materials and a neutral colour palette to create a spacious and calming interior. Full-height cabinetry, built-in appliances and handleless doors and drawers imbue a sense of simplicity and maintain a seamless look in the crisp white kitchen, which is clad in an acrylic surface material called HI-MACS, which has been moulded and used to cover the kitchen island, worktops and hob surround. Porcelain floor tiles designed to look like polished concrete have been used here, with oak floorboards for the rest of the living accommodation including the bedrooms. The same acrylic finish has been used in the bathrooms for the bath panel and the washbasins, with other finishes comprising oak panelling, Carrara marble and grey wall tiles for the monochrome master bathroom suite.
In detail PROJECT Architects FORMstudio: formstudio.co.uk Structural engineer Price & Myers: pricemyers.com
STRUCTURE Builder 3 Interior Contracts Ltd: 3interiors.com Double-height windows Fineline: inelinealuminium.co.uk Top-loor aluminium windows ID Systems: i-d-systems.co.uk Timber sash windows Dask Timber Products: dasktimber.co.uk
FIXTURES AND FITTINGS Acrylic solid surfaces HI-MACS: himacs.eu LED downlights AlphaLED: alphaled.co.uk Kitchen pendant lights Martinilight: martinilight.com Floor uplights John Cullen Lighting: johncullenlighting.co.uk Lighting control system Lutron: lutron.com Oak looring Barham & Sons: barhams.biz Acoustic timber panelling Gustafs: gustafs.com Concrete-effect porcelain loor tiles Grestec: grestec.co.uk Marble loor tiles Domus: domustiles.co.uk Bathroom basins Not Only White: notonlywhite.com Soft furnishings Elizabeth Bowman Ltd: 07976 246955
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FLOOR PLAN Accommodation is arranged over six loors. A gym and cinema room are in the basement, the kitchen/diner is on the ground loor, the living room and study on the irst loor, with the next two loors housing the bathrooms. The top level is a studio loor, with terraces.
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EXTERIOR The former cow shed is clad in black ibre cement boards, with a zinc roof. A lean-to has been added to the side of the orginal structure to provide 132 sqm of loor space.
Barn
storming A former cow shed in the Cambridgeshire countryside has been rebuilt, forming spacious, light-filled living areas and a striking black exterior. KEY CONTACTS Architectural technologist Andrew Fleet: andrewfleet.co.uk Kitchen Howdens: howdens.co.uk Cladding Hardieplank: jameshardie.co.uk Windows and doors APT Windows: 01353 725895 Air source heat pump NIBE: nibe.co.uk Heat pump supplier Ecoinstaller: ecoinstaller.net Floor tiles Tile Giant: tilegiant.co.uk Zinc roof CEL: celroofing.co.uk Range cooker John Lewis: johnlewis.com
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W
hen Dan Houghton decided to renovate an old cow shed on his family’s land and turn it into a home for himself and his partner Sarah Mitchell, he was able to use his skills as a carpenter to do much of the work himself. The corrugated iron and timber-clad timber-framed barn was in a reasonable condition, so Dan came up with a way of incorporating much of the existing frame into a new design and building several new sections of timber frame himself. Located close to Ely in the fens of Cambridgshire, the new barn is in a rural location surrounded by fields. It is now clad in striking black fibre cement boards that have a woodgrain finish, with brick plinth walls at the base and large windows to the front which follow the line of the gable. Inside, a large open-plan kitchen/diner/living room forms the main living space, the vaulted ceiling creating a spacious, light-filled interior, with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a utility room all on one floor.
ECO Barn conversion
A NIBE F2040 8kW air source heat pump was speciied for the barn, along with a 200-litre water cylinder, 40-litre buffer tank and SMO40 controller for domestic control and energy monitoring.
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ECO Barn conversion
Dan commissioned Andrew Fleet, an architectural technologist, to draw up a design for the 132-sqm barn on the footprint of the existing structure. Planning permission was gained easily, thanks to a policy in East Cambridgeshire that encourages residential use for redundant farm buildings. “We were lucky because this was one of the first buildings in East Cambs to be granted permission under the new policy, and since then it has become a little more difficult to get plans passed,” says Dan. Work began on site in 2014, with Dan undertaking much of the work himself, despite never having built a timber frame before. He laid the block-and-beam floor, constructed the timber frame, applied the cladding, and completed all the internal woodwork as well as fitting the kitchen. Subcontractors were hired as and when they were required, including a plasterer, electrician, bricklayer and plumber. Dan was on site every day, visiting to monitor progress when not working there himself, and spent three years on the job, learning new processes and techniques as he went. PVC windows were fitted with black frames on the exterior to match the cladding, and white on the inside, while zinc was used to cover the pitched roof which has a lean-to to one side to accommodate a kitchen, utility, cloakroom and bathrooms, with a third bedroom to the rear of the south side. The off-grid location of the barn meant that a septic tank was required, as mains sewerage was not close enough to be deemed accessible. In addition, an alternative to gas had to be found as one of the planning stipulations required that the heating source was renewable. Following a consultation with a renewables company, Dan chose an air source heat pump from NIBE to provide the required heating and hot water, which has the added benefit of a Renewable Heat Incentive payment of £800 per year.
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FLOORPLAN An open-plan kitchen/living/diner makes up most of the living space, the kitchen forming an L-shape, with bedrooms to the rear and bathrooms, cloakrooms and utility behind the kitchen. The car port has been replaced with a third bedroom.
PRODUCTS Building matters
TOOL BOX
BUILDING MATTERS The latest news, products, ideas and tips
Put the coffee maker on… Makita’s new cordless coffee maker is expected to become a prized possession for tradies and outdoor contractors who like a fresh brew. The DCM501Z is compatible with both CXT and LXT Makita Lithium-Ion batteries and features dedicated battery ports. It can brew 260ml on a single CXT 10.8V – 12VMAX battery or a 3.0Ah 14.4V battery, 320ml on an 18V 3.0Ah battery, and up to 640ml on an 18V 6.0Ah battery. The coffee maker comes with a dedicated 240ml cup, and is designed to it in the machine without leaving a gap to protect against splashing, dirt and dust. The DCM501Z is compatible with ground coffee as well as 60mm coffee pods. A fresh 160ml cup of coffee can be brewed in ive minutes. A boil-dry function prevents an unattended machine from burning out.
NURSERY COURTYARD WINS TOP BRICK AWARD Exemplary brickwork and attention to detail were rewarded at the 2018 Brick Awards when Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery in Cambridge was named the Supreme Winner. Designed by architects MUMA, the outstanding community
facility also won the Public and Outdoor Space categories. Storey’s Field is at the heart of the new development at northwest Cambridge. The judges described the attention to detailing both inside the building and outside, including the courtyard
area, as ‘breathtaking’ and far in excess of what was normally seen in public community buildings. The panel of judges included architects, planners, specialist brickwork contractors, developers and other design and brick experts. (brick.org.uk)
Now you see it, now you won’t… Cordless jigsaws Hilti has launched its irst cordless jigsaws – the new SJT 6-A22 and SJD 6-A22. The SJT 6-A22 has a barrel grip T-handle – the slimmest on the market with a low centre of gravity making it easier and more comfortable to manoeuvre in certain applications. By contrast the SJD 6-A22 has a more substantial hoop D-handle for those who prefer a traditional feel. The 28mm blade can cut through wood, chipboard, gypsum and metals, including stainless steel and aluminium, up to 15mm thick. Bevel cuts can be made up to 45°. Hilti’s range of blades can also be itted. These include the new double curved blades, which have back teeth for greater manoeuvrability to achieve precise cuts.
At least that’s the case at an innovative Tees Valley self-build development where street cabinets are looking a little different. Wynyard Park has teamed up with graphic designers Shutter Media to blend street furniture into their surroundings by wrapping them in a range of clever designs – from brick, rendering and landscaping through to the woodland animals commonly seen on the development. Sixteen Virgin Media street cabinets are to get the wrap treatment – with plans to eventually hide most of the street cabinets. The project was the brainchild of Wynyard Park development manager Craig Pinder, who teamed up with Steve Hale of Shutter Media to initially lessen the impact of two street cabinets with more attractive facades.
Expansion vessel for compact units Altecnic’s latest addition to its sealed system kit range, the Robokit Compact Plus, is designed to make installers’ lives easier by having all the components for an expansion vessel installation in an exceptionally compact unit. The new expansion vessel is easy to install where space is limited. The kit comprises a
low-proile, rectangular expansion vessel, which is available in eight, 10 and 12 litre sizes, a safety-relief valve with in-built pressure gauge, and a WRAS-approved illing loop with integral non-return valve. Despite its compact size, the vessel is big enough to suit the average UK home.
Sealed systems are the most common form of central heating in the UK, and must include an expansion vessel to accommodate the increase in volume as the water is heated; failure to do so can damage the system beyond repair. Expansion vessels also help to maintain a constant water pressure. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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FENESTRATION The latest news on doors and windows ONLINE STORE FOR SKY AND ROOF LIGHTS A new online store has been launched for those looking for roof and skylights. Servicing both professional builders and homeowners, Roof Lights & Skylights offers a range of polycarbonate and glass products with nextday delivery available on many stocked units, while also supplying bespoke requirements. The new online store has been developed by the National Domelight Company, a supplier of roof lights, skylights, dome lights, smoke vents/AOVs and roof lanterns. “Roof Lights & Skylights has been designed to support the industry’s demand for the quick, no-fuss purchase and delivery of roof lights and skylights,” says Scott Couldrey, NDC’s managing director. “NDC was one of the first companies within the sector to launch an online shop and as the industry has evolved, we’re pleased to still be ahead of the curve and providing solutions and services that support our customers.”
ATTRACTIVE AND ECO
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Evolution Windows offers the benefits of both wood and uPVC with its timber alternative storm and flush ranges. Designed and hand-crafted to emulate traditional timber windows they blend intricate period detailing and authentic colour options with the latest material technology and innovative design to create unique, virtually maintenance-free windows.
New french windows Origin has launched a new french window which features a unique internal and external flush casement and a floating mullion to offer completely unobstructed views. In practical terms this means that when both the left and right windows are open, there’s no profile in the way. The Origin French Window can be upgraded with Aerogel, which has the lowest thermal conductivity of any known solid. By using just 10mm of it in the thermal break, thermal efficiency can be boosted by up to 67 per cent to achieve an A++ energy rating and a 0.9 U-value. The window also combines a polyamide thermal break within the aluminium profile, so it exceeds Building Regulations. High-grade stainless steel hinges are capable of carrying heavy loads, with hinge guards installed as standard for added security. The Origin French Window is PAS24 accredited and features an espagnolette-style handle to work in conjunction with Yale’s Encloser locking system
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Tilt-and-turn and tilt-and-slide windows and doors to complement the Mediterranean-feel of this west London property were installed by Derbyshire company Gowercroft Joinery. Manufactured using laminated oak, the doors and windows offer a winning combination of stability and aesthetic appeal. Gowercroft Joinery is a finalist in the G18 glazing awards.
PRODUCTS Doors & windows
NEW DYNAMIC GLAZING OFFERS GRADUAL IN-PANE TINT Saint-Gobain has launched SageGlass Harmony, describing it as the world’s most elegant dynamic glass. It was unveiled for the irst time at Glasstec in Dusseldorf, Germany. Harmony’s dynamic glass provides daylight, heat and glare management while maintaining a natural and seamless connection to the outdoors. SageGlass LightZone was the irst dynamic glazing to allow for in-pane tinting to precisely control the source of uncomfortable heat and glare while providing optimal lighting conditions. However, LightZone has deined lines between tinted and clear areas of the glass. Harmony improves on this with a gradual in-pane tint from clear to fully tinted. SageGlass CEO Alan McLenaghan says: “Harmony represents the best glass technology evolution ever produced in our dynamic glazing portfolio. It represents a near-perfect balance between the performance and aesthetic goals a solar control and glazing solution needs to deliver.”
HIGH-END SLIDING DOORS FROM VIIU
Viiu’s loor-to-ceiling sliding doors offer ‘exceptional’ performance designed to appeal to afluent end-users with grand design home ambitions. Viiu boasts ultra-slim sightlines, secure laminated glass throughout and an unobtrusive design. The outer frame is entirely built into the facade, giving it the appearance of an uninterrupted wall of glass. It also features a patented, adjustable interlock section to maximise performance and aesthetics and is the UK’s irst PAS24-2016accredited ultra-slim sliding door. A motorised option is also available. Its drive gear is housed in the unit’s 100mm head proile, which itself is hidden behind the building’s facade.
TRADITIONAL LOOK CASEMENT WINDOWS Anglian Home Improvements’ new uPVC lush casement windows are designed to make it easier to create an authentic and traditionally styled home with the added beneit of modern design technologies. The new range incorporates sculptured interior details for a traditional look, just like a timber window. Colour options for those wanting a bespoke look range from Heritage White and contemporary Anthracite Grey, to more traditional colours and authentic-looking woodgrains. Contrasting colours can be used to create a distinctive period look, such as a white sash with black frames and sills – a popular option for Tudor-style properties. The windows have A+ double glazing as standard with A++ triple glazing as an additional option. SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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ECO Living
GREEN NEWS
World-first home energy research lab for Salford £16m home energy research centre in Salford has been given the green light to offer state-of-the-art testing for hundreds of UK companies innovating in the construction, energy, smart homes and digital sectors. The centre will provide the world’s first all-weather research facility for whole building performance, capable of cutting test times for new products ‘from years to a matter of weeks.’ The centre, called Energy House 2.0, is a successor to the university’s hugely successful Energy House, which opened in 2011 and has provided the science behind technological change and a raft of initiatives to save on energy bills, particularly for Britain’s five million ‘fuel-poor’ households. The existing facility – a Victorian terraced house inside an environmental
A
chamber – is one of the most famous laboratories in the UK, and has regularly featured on TV and in the media. The new blueprint is a much larger, more flexible facility, where all types of buildings can be constructed, tested and demolished. The laboratory will create wind, snow, rain, solar simulation, and temperatures ranging from -20°C to +40°C. It houses sensor, thermal, data and visualisation laboratories and a new product development unit under a single roof with viewing galleries and a boardroom. Energy House 2.0 is timely, given the UK’s industrial strategy on ‘clean growth’ while supporting Greater Manchester’s plan to position itself as a world-leading green business and clean tech hub. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said Energy House 2.0 would pave the way for net zero-carbon homes and
workplaces: “We’re determined to push boundaries to make Greater Manchester one of the greenest city regions in Europe. Energy House 2.0 at the University of Salford will be a significant driver towards truly net zero-carbon homes and workplaces, not just here in Greater Manchester, but across the UK.” Vice-chancellor of the University of Salford, Professor Helen Marshall, said: “Energy
NOISE REDUCED ON NEW HEAT PUMPS Two new air source heat pumps have been designed to operate more quietly. The Vitocal 200-A and Vitocal 222-A, both from Viessmann, are suitable for densely built-up areas such as terraced housing estates, and both have high energy eficiency with low operating costs. With outputs ranging from 2.3 to 11.8kW, and the capability to switch between heating and cooling, the new heat pumps are identical except for an integrated 220-litre domestic hot water cylinder in the 222-A. The cylinder has a newly developed inlow device to allow a high tap volume of up to 290 litres (at 40°C). Maximum low temperature is up to 60°C when the temperature outdoors is as low as -10°C. Both heat pumps feature Viessmann’s new Advanced Acoustic Design, which combines a sound-optimised fan with intelligent speed control, reducing airborne noise. This effectively stiles the lower frequency sound of conventional heat pumps which can be considered noisy. The small monobloc heat pumps have separate indoor and outdoor units connected by water pipes. The wall-
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mounted indoor unit is quiet enough to be installed close to the living area and contains a high-eficiency circulation pump, three-way changeover valve (with an effective cooling function thanks to three cooling circuits), safety group, control, and an instantaneous water heater. The energy rating of both units is A++, with a coeficient of performance of ive possible, according to the EN 14511 standard. Because air-to-water heat pumps are eligible for the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive, there is a payback, currently at a tariff of 10.49p per kilowatt hour. For further energy cost savings, both pumps
are optimised to use power generated on site by photovoltaic systems, dependent on location and subject to solar PV peak. Installation does not call for a minimum distance between the indoor and outdoor units, no refrigeration leak test is required because the cooling circuit is hermetically sealed, and no F-gas certiicate is needed because the connecting pipes to the outdoor unit are illed with water. They are supplied with a Vitotronic 200 control unit which has easy-to-read plain text and a graphic display, and can be controlled remotely via the Vitoconnect web interface and free ViCare smartphone app.
House 2.0 is an excellent example of a university, industry and government working together to tackle some of the major environmental and social issues of our times while supporting innovation and business growth.” The facility is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Office for Students and the University of Salford. It is due to be completed in 2020.
Action group calls for better building standards The Good Homes Alliance has called for greater energy performance targets for new homes, following a stark warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Set up to promote better, more sustainable standards of housebuilding in the UK, the GHA has called for a series of measures that it believes will enable the UK to meet the IPCC’s challenge, including compliance checks on the energy performance of new homes, and more stringent Building Regulations to be drafted. It also insists the government needs to promote and directly support innovation in the planning, design and construction of new homes. The GHA addresses the IPCC challenge in its Vanguard Campaign, which focuses on actively promoting enhanced standards and addressing issues of performance, health and energy.
ADVICE Planning advice
Planning clinic Our Plot Doctor Roy Speer answers your planning questions. Is there merit in a pre-application enquiry?
Q
A friend owns a plot which used to have a house on it many years ago, maybe in the 1970s. It has a chequered history, including refusals in the 1980s and 1990s, the last one in 1999. I have managed to get hold of all the paperwork. There’s been a caravan on it now for about 10 years. I’m thinking of doing a preapplication enquiry with the council. Do you think that’s the right way to go?
A
A lot has changed in planning in the last five years, let alone since the late 1990s. It could well be that things have moved on. It would be worth looking at the reasons why the previous applications were refused and whether the circumstances have changed. If the reasons relate to physical factors, such as trees, access or flood risk, maybe those would be the same. If new development has taken place around the site, that could be a new factor. Government planning policy has definitely changed and local policies have probably evolved as well. Carrying out a pre-application consultation now sounds like a good idea to take stock of the current prospects. Do point out any changes since the previous decisions. Also, bear in mind when you receive the response that, if it’s negative, that isn’t necessarily the final word. Unless you are completely convinced by a negative response, seek your own independent view on it.
presumably, will expire in the next six months (technically there’s no such thing as renewal of permission – it’s a new application). Unless circumstances have changed, such as new planning policies, the council should have little basis on which to refuse the same scheme it approved a few years ago. Now that the neighbours’ blood seems to be up, you might find they object to the ‘renewal’ of the previous permission but, in the absence of sound reasons, the council would be sticking its neck out to refuse it. Apply soon because, were the council to refuse a new permission, you should still have time to implement the existing one, for example, by digging part of the foundation trenches to keep it alive. Meanwhile, you could appeal against the decision on the revised application which the council has just turned down. Have a think about the reasons given and whether you have good arguments to counter them. It could be that, if it was refused because of public pressure, the ‘reasons’ are more like excuses and, if that’s the case, it should bode well for success at appeal. There’s nothing to stop you making appeal straight away but, if you err on caution, you could wait until the ‘renewal’ is decided, just in case having an appeal running negatively influences the decision.
Neighbour’s net screen is causing problems
Q
We are nearing completion of a new build in a Conservation Area. We have full planning
permission and no one objected. A neighbour has erected a two-metre screen of camouflage netting above an old stone wall standing 2.5M high between our properties. The neighbour’s garden is very large and heavily treed. I’ve just heard from the local planners, after several weeks’ wait, that the screening can remain as it’s not a development. There’s legislation for high hedges, covering light and enjoyment, but nothing for this situation. The screening certainly affects our ground-floor rooms and garden and it’s not yet winter. Is there anything I can do to have the neighbour find a solution which doesn’t spoil our house.
A
It would be nice to be able to resolve the matter in a neighbourly way, if you can. If there are trees on or near the boundary, the netting might not add that much screening. Have you tried inviting the neighbour around to view how little of their garden is visible from your house? If the neighbour won’t budge, I would try going back to the council. A screen is a type of fence and fences usually require planning permission. Find out who made the initial decision that the netting didn’t require planning permission. Go higher up the chain in the council and, if that fails, speak to your local councillor and ask them to take it up with the officers. Beyond that, there’s not much else you can do through the planning system. You could try speaking to a solicitor to see whether there are any legal remedies.
Implications of changes to existing permission
Q
My last planning application caused a big fuss with the neighbours and I don’t really understand why. When it went to committee the councillors turned it down. My previous application was passed about 2 1/2 years ago, without any problem. I want to make some changes to the house so don’t really want to build the one I have permission for. What’s my best course of action now?
A
Having permission for something on the site puts you in a stronger position than having nothing. So, top priority, I suggest, is to endeavour to ‘renew’ the existing permission which, SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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ADVICE Legal advice
Ask our legal expert Property law specialist Guy Elyahou answers your legal questions.
Agreement over neighbour’s link to electricity pole
Q
My neighbour is undertaking a self build and has requested permission to lay a connection to the mains electricity pole in my garden. This new branch would run underground for approximately 20m along my tarmac driveway to reach his boundary. We have an amicable relationship and I readily agreed verbally to him doing this upon his promise to cause minimum obstruction and to replace the tarmac surface to my satisfaction. The work has yet to start as we are awaiting an on-site meeting with surveyors from the local electricity company. However, having since read a back issue of SelfBuild & Design it has prompted me to think that an easement with my neighbour should be instituted. Do you think this is really necessary as obviously expense is involved. If so, whose responsibility is it to initiate the legal process? If it is mine, can I pass these on to my neighbour without him thinking that it is really to my advantage only? I realise that it is his original request to enter my land but I don’t wish any unnecessary complications or animosity to arise between us.
A
It would be in the neighbour’s interest to have an easement in their (or the land’s) favour to allow the services access under your land. Whilst relations are good between the parties there is no guarantee that with new owners this would continue. You should prepare an agreement setting out the timescale and standard of the works and also ensure that he will indemnify you from any damage the works may cause. This agreement should contain an obligation on the neighbour to make good any damage from the works to a satisfactory standard and in a timely manner. The cost for all of this should be borne by your neighbour (being the party wishing to undertake the works). This principle is similar to the manner in which a party wall agreement is drawn up.
94 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
The complication in this arrangement could be the utility provider – for example, the utility company may not be prepared to rely solely on your neighbour’s development rights. The company has every right to request a direct agreement with you (being the owner of the retained land). You have no obligation to enter into such an agreement and you are entitled to compensation for it. The utility company would want this in order to guarantee it access to the services, again a reasonable expectation. I appreciate that you have presented a simple question with a reasonable neighbourly solution; however I suggest that you protect your position in case there is any damage, the works are poor, or worse still you are simply left with a half dug-up section of tarmac, either now or in the future.
Protection Your neighbour will want to protect his position in case he wishes to sell the land and so to have an easement in his favour (which he can pass on with the completed house) is a sensible move. Finally, as mentioned above, it is not unknown for the utility provider to want
to enter into an agreement directly with you to allow it access to the services. An easement is a right of way which allows an owner – and future owners – to exercise certain rights on the land. In this case the right of way should be granted by a written agreement which will clarify which property has the benefit of the right of way and which property must suffer the burden of that right. It must be signed by all relevant parties. Certain rights of way can be implied by law or created by necessity. The Law of Property Act 1925 confirms that when a property is sold, the land will include the benefits of any existing rights of way. Sometimes a right of way can be created because it is necessary for the use of that property. Any easement must be exercised reasonably and without any undue interference to the owner of that easement. I would suggest that the proposals and the requirements for the services fall comfortably within that definition; however, the problem you may come across is with the requirement for direct consent from the landowner (you) to the energy company. The energy company will want the right to: • install its equipment on the land; • have direct access to the land; and • have a direct remedy against the landowner if things do not go according to plan. This agreement is called a “wayleave agreement” which is a written consent between a landowner and a service provider giving rights to install, inspect, maintain, alter or repair equipment or apparatus located on the private land. Wayleave agreements are usually terminable and run for a specific period of time. Essentially, whilst you are prepared to be amicable there is a commercial arrangement to be made to cover the inconvenience and risk to you. It would make commercial sense for your neighbour to do this with regard to the cost and expense of the other options available to him. Guy Elyahou is a solicitor specialising in construction law. He is also the author of Law for Home Improvers and Selfbuilders. Email your questions in the first instance to ross.stokes@sbdonline.co.uk
Finance
In association with
A guide to self-build mortgage lenders
0345 099 2234
The table below, while not exhaustive, is a guide to the lenders that offer self-build mortgages and the range of products available. LENDER’S NAME
Lend on land
% of end value of property advanced
www.buildstore.co.uk
Number of stage payments
Minimum works completed for 1st stage payment
Mortgage types available
National or local
Telephone
GUARANTEED ADVANCE STAGE PAYMENT MORTGAGES Bath Building Society (Accelerator)
95% (OPP)
80%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
4.69%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Buckinghamshire BS
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
4.99%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Darlington Building Society (Accelerator)
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
5.09%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
(Accelerator)
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
5.20%
England/Wales/Scot
0345 223 4647
Hanley Building Society (Accelerator)
85% (OPP)
60%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
5.04%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Mansield Building Society (Accelerator)
85% (OPP)
80%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
5.75%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Vernon Building Society (Accelerator)
85% (OPP)
80%
Six
DPP & Building Regs granted
5.50%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Furness Building Society
ARREARS STAGE PAYMENT MORTGAGES Beverly BS
75%
75%
Four
Wall plate
4.99%
England/Wales
01482 881 510
Buckinghamshire BS*
85% (OPP)
85%
Six
Foundations
4.84%
England/Wales/Scot
0345 223 4647
Chorley BS*
85% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.39%
England/Wales/Scot
0345 223 4647
Cumberland BS
75%
85%
Flexible
Flexible
Call
Branch only
01228 403 141
Darlington BS*
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.99%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Dudley BS*
50% (OPP)
75%
Six
Foundations
5.49%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Earl Shilton BS
50% (OPP)
75%
Flexible
Flexible
4.99%
England/Wales
01455 844422 0845 674 5566
Ecology BS
80%
80%
Flexible
Flexible
4.65%
National
Hanley BS*
85% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.74%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Harpenden BS
75%
75%
Flexible
Flexible
4.39%
England/Wales
01582 463 133
Hinkley & Rugby
NA
80%
Five
Footings
6.14%
England/Wales
01455 894 083
Ipswich BS*
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
3.99%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Loughborough BS*
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.39%
Central England
0345 223 4647
Mansield BS*
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
5.15%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Melton Mowbray
75%
75%
Flexible
Flexible
4.09%
England/Wales
01664 414 141
Newbury BS
66% (DPP)
75%
Flexible
Flexible
4.45%
Postcode restricted
Local branch
Newcastle BS*
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.99%
England/Wales/Scot
0345 223 4647
Nottingham BS*
80% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.64%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Penrith BS
75%
75%
Six
Foundations
4.99%
Cumbria
01768 863675
Saffron BS
65%
75%
Flexible
Flexible
4.20%
England/Wales
01482 881510
Scottish BS
60% (DPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
5.89%
Scotland
0131 313 7700
Stafford BS*
85% (OPP)
75%
Six
Foundations
4.50%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Tipton & Cosley BS*
85% (OPP)
75%
Six
Foundations
4.49%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647
Vernon BS
85% (OPP)
80%
Six
Foundations
4.74%
England/Wales
0161 429 6262
West Bromwich BS
85% (OPP)
75%
Six
Foundations
4.29%
England/Wales
0345 223 4647 * exclusive from Buildstore
Funding a self build Self-build mortgages are paid out on the completion of various stages of the build, typically four or ive. This means that you need to be able to fund stages, either from your own resources or
other borrowing, before you are reimbursed by the next payment from your main lender. In the case of a timber-fra0me house, where the frame might account for a third of your total budget ––payable in one go –– this is likely to require careful juggling of inances. Establish clearly with your lender when and how stage
payments will be made so you don’t ind yourself running into cash-low problems. One solution is to raise a loan on your existing home, to be repaid when you sell it. There are also schemes, such as Buildstore’s Accelerator Mortgage, which allow you to remain in your home until your new house is completed.
SelfBuild SelfBuild & Design & Design JANUARY JULY 2019 2017
95
Diary dates To publicise your course, seminar or exhibition, contact Louise Parkin on l.parkin@sbdonline.co.uk.
Courses Brighton Permaculture Trust
Introduction to Permaculture Feb 9-10 Income-based fee £152.50-£247.50 Brighton This course introduces the basics of permaculture design promoting the use of permaculture design in everyday life. The course will cover the history, various definitions, design process, ethics, principles, other design tools and case studies from a range of applications. This theory will be used to co-create a design over the twoday course. (brightonpermaculture.org.uk) Centre for Alternative Technology
Build a Tiny House Jan 28-31 Waged £600, low waged/concession £500 Machynlleth, Wales Learn how to make a beautiful and bespoke tiny house from the ground up including the timber frame structure, interior and renewable systems. Carwyn lloyd Jones (Master craftsman and designer / builder of the Dragons eye) leads the course which starts with the floor and walls of a simple timber frame tiny house, approx. 6ft x 10ft and teaches the advantages of different layouts. The walls and then clad and insulated. Safe tool use will be covered, as will building different roof shapes and window installation. (ourses.cat.org.uk) Centre for Alternative Technology
Compost Toilets Feb 2 £65 Machynlleth, Wales
Introduction to Bathroom Design.
Ideal for professionals and selfbuilders alike, this is not a building course but rather advice on the component parts and the biology of a compost toilet system and the kit required to make one. Covering the main component parts of a DIY compost toilet in order to maximise the composting process, the course will look at off-the-shelf systems, and pros and cons will be discussed. The advantages of urine separation, chamber layout, planning and greywater management will all be discussed. (courses.cat.org.uk)
Potton Self Build Academy St Neots, Cambridgeshire How to Find and Appraise a Plot Jan 5 (Free of charge) This extensive and informative one-day event will provide all the advice and knowledge needed to find that ideal plot, and then describe how to appraise it. It will provide the information required to determine the suitability and to overcome possible obstacles.
Introduction to Self Build & Finding Land Jan 11 (Free of charge) This seminar provides an introduction to the process of self build especially for beginners, covering key topics including finding land, home design, getting planning permission and how to build a timber-frame home. This seminar will provide all the information needed to begin a self build journey. The day also includes a chance to browse Potton’s show homes.
KLC School of Design
How to Project Manage Your Build
Introduction to Kitchen Design
Jan 18 (Free of charge) Taking you through stage by stage, this informative and in-depth workshop will cover everything you need to know about effectively managing and building your own home. Including topics such as regulations and permissions, build systems and completion.
Jan 18 £185 Chelsea Harbour, London Whether you are a practising interior designer or someone just looking for ideas and inspiration for your own home, this is an area of design that requires specialist knowledge. This course will consider the fundamentals of practical kitchen design. The emphasis will be on understanding the range of considerations involved in planning and designing a kitchen, and putting these into practice in practical workshops which respond to a client brief. The days will also examine planning issues, the latest style trends and new technology. (klc.co.uk) KLC School of Design
Introduction to Bathroom Design Jan 25 £185 Chelsea Harbour, London Designed for practising interior designer as well as those looking to improve the aesthetics of their own home, this area of design requires specialist knowledge. The
Making the Most of Your Plot Feb 1 (Free of charge) Designed for those who already have a building plot, at this event a team of experts will advise on whether it is suitable to build on, suggest how designs can be tailored for the plot, explain how to navigate through the planning process, and provide advice on energy-efficient construction methods and details on project costing.
How to Find and Appraise a Plot Feb 2 (Free of charge) This extensive and informative one-day event will provide all the advice and knowledge needed to find that ideal plot, and then describe how to appraise it. It will provide the information required to determine the suitability and to overcome possible obstacles.
Granted Permission: How to Get Your Project Moving Feb 8 (Free of charge) Taking you through stage by stage, this informative and in-depth workshop will cover everything you need to know about effectively managing and building your own home. Including topics such as regulations and permissions, build systems and completion.
The Design Process Explained Feb 15 (£25 pp /£40 per couple) A half-day course, aimed at explaining the design process step by step. This seminar will explain how Potton goes about working with selfbuilders to design a new home from start to finish. The event examines the process of creating a design, beginning with establishing a budget, understanding lifestyle and creating a design brief, right through to preparing a design ready for submission to planning. It will also explain the design work needed to make a Building Regulations submission and what happens behind the scenes to get ready for manufacture and construction of a new home. (selfbuildacademy.co.uk)
96 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
ADVICE Diary dates
Training Academies These organisations run regular courses aimed at hands-on selfbuilders.
Able Skills Dartford, Kent Five-day courses in plumbing, plastering, bricklaying, tiling, drylining, electrical and kitchen fitting. (0808 100 3245, ableskills.co.uk)
Access Training Academies Cardiff, Bristol, London & Edenbridge A wide range of accredited training courses for beginners and seasoned professionals alike – whether you want to become a professional electrician, earn your Gas Safe certificate, or simply learn some basic DIY skills. (0800 345 7492, accesstraininguk.co.uk)
Winter Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair.
course will consider the fundamentals of practical bathroom design with an emphasis on planning and designing a bathroom, and putting these into practice in practical workshops which respond to a client brief. The day will also examine planning issues, the latest style trends and new technology. (klc.co.uk) KLC School of Design
Interior Styling for Beginners Feb 1 £185 Chelsea Harbour, London This one-day introductory course addresses interior styling from first principles, focusing on dressing a space for a photoshoot, homestaging, creating visual presentation materials for architecture or interior design practice, or preparing a turnkey project for handover to a client. The course is also suitable for homeowners interested in improving the aesthetics of their own home. (klc.co.uk) KLC School of Design
Experience Interior Design Feb 22 £185 Chelsea Harbour, London This day provides the a concise introduction to the world of interior design. Despite the prevalence of design in today’s media, confusion surrounds even some of the most basic principles. To gain a better appreciation for interior projects, or as a basis for further study, this practical day provides a compelling, comprehensive and enjoyable introduction. (klc.co.uk) Mike Wye & Associates
Builder Training will be practised on, with guidance at hand throughout. A range of colours, finishing soaps, lustres and micas are available for creating unique tadelakt finishes. Sample boards can be taken away at the end of the course. (mikewye.co.uk)
Seminars and Exhibitions Winter Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair Jan 22-27 Battersea Park, London This is a high point of the design season for interior decorators. With more than 160 exhibitors taking part, all specialist dealers in antique and 20th-century design from Britain and Europe, the selection of stock is unrivalled. Private customers mingle with leading members of the international design trade, retail buyers and film stylists who attend the fair to search out original and unusual furniture, art and accessories to give their projects an individual touch. (decorativefair.com)
National Self Build & Renovation Show Jan 25-27 Pre-book for free entry NSBRC, Swindon More than 240 exhibitors will be on hand during this show held at the permanent home of self build. Visitors have the opportunity to learn all about self build and renovation through the exhibition stands, demonstrations and full seminar programme, as well as access to the show’s resident features, such as the Renovation House and Potton’s show home. (nsbrc.co.uk)
Tadelakt Plaster Dec 12 £120 + VAT inc lunch Buckland Filleigh, Devon The Tadelakt Plaster Course teaches how to achieve the beautiful, water repellent tadelakt finishes for use in wet rooms and bathrooms. For each session there is a step-by-step demonstration by an experienced, specialist plasterer. A range of boards and terracotta pots
The Listed Property Show Feb 9-10 £10 Olympia, London The Listed Property Show returns to Olympia Central with invaluable information, top tips and practical advice – a must-visit event for owners of listed buildings. There are over 150 of the country’s leading experts on
Farnham, Surrey Courses include tiling, carpentry, basic plumbing, bathroom installation, bricklaying and blocklaying. Dates are arranged depending on demand and there are never more than three or four people on each course. They also teach one-on-one and can customise courses to suit your needs. (07780 977767, basicplumbingcourse.com)
Builder Training Centre Croydon, Surrey Run over five days, or two weekends, learn bricklaying (mixing mortar, building walls and damp-proofing), plastering, tiling, plumbing and carpentry. (0800 389 2775, thebtc.co.uk)
Tradeskills4U
Crawley, West Sussex Plastering, tiling, electrics, plumbing and bricklaying are taught with courses of varying lengths, including a DIY course specifically for women. (0800 856 4448, tradeskills4u.co.uk)
hand to offer advice and planning, including independent conservation officers who can help ease the stress and provide information on laws, insurances, mortgages and grants. On-site architects will look over plans, and planners and builders will also be on hand. There will also be demonstrations on leadwork, plasterwork and woodcarving. (lpoc.co.uk)
Building a Home with Offsite Systems Feb 22 St Neots, Cambridgeshire This masterclass will explain the process of creating a design, beginning with establishing a budget, understanding lifestyle and creating a design brief, right through to preparing a design ready for submission to planning. It will also explain the design work needed to make a Building Regulations submission and what goes on behind the scenes to get ready for manufacture and construction. (kingspan.com) SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
97
The plot is accessed from the road to the original garage of the vendor’s house on the corner.
PROPERTY & SETTING The plot is in Steyning, a small town on the edge of the South Downs National Park in Sussex. Brighton and Worthing on the coast are within 20 minutes and Horsham and Crawley are slightly farther to the north. The town has a picturesque centre where there are shops for day-today needs, along with a bank, post office, several pubs, schools, doctors, dentists, and a sports centre. The nearest stations are on the South Coast line about five miles away and on the London to Brighton line about 10 miles to the east. The plot is a few hundred yards from the high street via a twitten and along a narrow lane. The plot is in a close on a housing estate, so traffic is very light, at least on this weekday morning while I am here. It seems a quiet residential area with mainly detached homes. The plot is part of the back garden of a detached corner house, including the original vehicle access. Double gates are on the road boundary, providing access to a double, single-storey, flat-roof brick garage, behind which is a wooden shed. On the remainder of the south (front) boundary are tall dense conifers, which continue around the boundaries of the existing house. On part of its eastern boundary with the existing house, is a temporary timber fence about a metre into where the plot boundary will be. On the western side is a tall and wide hedge which currently eats a fair way into the space. On the northern (back) boundary is a timber fence. The plot is level. The back of the two-storey existing house faces towards the plot with windows on the ground and first floors. On the other side, is a pair of two-storey semis with a gable end containing a first-floor window facing the plot. The end of a back garden which belongs to a twostorey property lies directly behind.
98 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
Checking permission for any nasty
SURPRISES
Vesna Peters has found a plot with planning permission which might be suitable for her and her husband to fulfil their long-held desire to self build. She asked our PlotDoctor, Roy Speer, to cast his eye over it.
V
esna has been searching for 18 months and has seen a few plots but none has come off. This one is on the market through local agent Hamilton Graham. As a first-time selfbuilder, Vesna is keen to avoid making a fundamental mistake – the choice of site. She likes the area and believes the town would work for her in terms of jobs, family, friends and leisure interests. The location within the town would be good as it’s easy walking distance to the shops. Vesna has no experience of planning and, although it does state in the sales particulars that planning permission is in place, she wants to know it’s all above board with no nasty surprises. She understands the planning permission is for a three-bedroom house which would meet her requirement for a two- or three-bed home. Having been searching for a while, Vesna has a good feel for local plot prices but is interested in how to calculate what to offer for a site.
Planning permission The council’s online record shows many applications on the property, most dating
from the 1950s and 60s when, I presume, the housing estate was built. In more recent years, there is a 2002 permission for a single-storey extension of the house and a 2017 permission for the demolition of the garage and building a house, with alterations to the existing access. There’s also an approval of the conditions which were attached to the new house permission. The application was for full planning permission. The approved drawings show a three-bedroom chaletstyle property. There are two bedrooms in the roof space, each with a dormer window at the front and roof lights at the back, and a shower room in between them. On the ground floor is an open-plan kitchen/ dining/living room across the back and a bedroom/study, entrance hall and utility/ shower room at the front. The plot is about 14m wide by 20m deep. The house is shown to sit more-or-less in the middle, with parking for two cars in front and a 5.8m garden behind, with clearance on either side of about two metres. The rear wall of the existing house would be around 10m from the side wall of the new house. Correspondence on the council’s online file makes interesting reading.
ADVICE PlotDoctor The planning officers hadn’t favoured the original scheme, being concerned about the house projecting in front of the building line, its size in relation to the plot and its appearance in the setting. However, the house was reduced in size to create more room around it and so it could be brought in line with the side wall of the existing house. These revisions led to a positive report and the house was approved by planning officers as a so-called ‘delegated decision’. In the decision notice, the council listed 11 planning conditions. These include the usual specifying of drawing numbers, three-year time limit to start work and approval of materials. Others relate to approval of drainage, floor levels, water use, landscaping, walls and fences, bin storage and removal of permitted development rights. The landowner has gone one step farther and secured the approvals required by the planning conditions. The landscaping plan shows new hedges on the front boundary, either side of the access, and down the western boundary, a closeboard fence on the new boundary with the garden of the existing house, a patio across the back of the new house with a small area of grass behind that and another small patch in the front garden, opposite the parking area.
Valuation This is a pleasant small town, well located in relation to larger towns, transport and attractive countryside, and with education and local facilities. Property prices are relatively high. The market value of this plot depends on what can be built on it, the build cost, and the openmarket value of the completed house. The design has been pinned down by the existing permission. Whilst it might be possible to vary the approved scheme or make an application for a completely different property, given the constraints of the site there’s unlikely to be much scope for anything radically different, especially not significantly larger. It should be easy enough to get some indications from local estate agents on the value of the finished house. Vesna can also go online to look up prices paid for houses in this road and area, and also asking prices of houses on the market. Obviously, that would be a current value and prices can change over the time it would take to build the house. However, as Vesna would be building for her own occupation, shortterm price fluctuations aren’t likely to matter that much, unless there some unforeseen circumstances. The remaining unknown is the construction cost. Average square-metre build costings are available but these can be
unreliable as no plot is ‘average’ and there are regional and local variations. Vesna would get a better indication of building cost for this particular project from a suitable professional, such as a quantity or building surveyor, architect or building contractor. This should reflect her preferences for the quality of finishes and fittings and what technology she would like to include. One potential cost to bear in mind is the community infrastructure levy (CIL). This can add substantially to the
DOCTOR’S DIAGNOSIS I think the owner has done quite well in getting permission on this site. The application documents point to it being a close-run thing. Since the owner had to reduce the size of the house to secure a permission, it seems unlikely that anything with significantly greater floor area or taller would be approved by the council. I suggest Vesna works on the assumption that what’s been permitted is more-or-less as much building as she is likely to get. It might be that, within those parameters, the design and materials could be changed, though. The planners would, of course, be very interested in the exterior of the house but they would be much less concerned about the interior. So, Vesna should have freedom to alter the internal layout, if she wished. She could think about whether to go with the open-plan living area or to have separate rooms, whether to increase the size of the kitchen and if she wants to stick with the current arrangement of one shared shower room upstairs and a combined shower/utility room downstairs. One point to be conscious of is that to implement a planning permission validly, the permitted building has to be built in accordance with the approved drawings. Consequently, changes to the permitted scheme would necessitate an application to the council of some kind. That could be, for example, a non-material amendment to the existing permission for internal rearrangement, a minor material amendment for tweaks to the exterior or a new application for more fundamental changes to the house. One advantage of this plot is that the conditions have been approved. This will save the purchaser time and expense and reduce potential uncertainty, especially over drainage, which of all the conditions in this case could have been most sticky.
cost although, in most cases, selfbuilders are exempt. There are qualifying criteria and procedures which have to be followed, so Vesna should look into this to make sure she can tick all the boxes and, in due course, do all the necessary paperwork. Having ascertained all the components, she can calculate what the plot would be worth to her. Factors to consider include the amount of contingency funds, her finance costs, if appropriate, and whether/ what level of profit to incorporate.
Roy Speer, planning consultant and co-author of How to Get Planning Permission, How to Find and Buy a Building Plot, and Complete Planning Permission: 01273 843737 or roy@speerdade.co.uk
Vesna needs to decide whether the garden is adequate. Clearly, it’s not big but, for many people, that’s a distinct advantage and should be low maintenance. The rear garden will at least be relatively private for a house in a built-up area. It backs onto the end of a rear garden and wouldn’t be overlooked by the house to which that garden belongs. The rear of the existing house, with its first-floor windows, faces the back garden at the distance of about 10m at the closest point. Viewing the plot from the first floor of the existing house, though, I reckon with a six-foot fence on the new boundary, the garden should be fairly secluded. The rear of the house faces north and whilst the back garden should get plenty of light, it might not receive sunshine throughout the whole day. At first sight, this looks like a straightforward plot. There doesn’t seem anything untoward in the planning permission and the conditions have been taken care of. It’s a development site ready to go. The permission has still got a couple of years to run so, providing a purchase didn’t drag on interminably, there should be plenty of time to get everything sorted. Hamilton Graham Estate Agents 01903 879212
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 99
PLOTBROWSER
Conversion opportunities A former threshing barn in the pretty village of Great Asby, Cumbria, part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, could be an ideal opportunity for an aspiring selfbuilder.
The linked barns are of local stone construction.
C
hurch View Barn consists of a former threshing barn and 18th- and 19th-century byre and granary, linked and constructed of local stone. Planning permission was granted in 2016 by the park’s local authority under reference E/01/414 for the conversion of the existing buildings into a linked detached dwelling; a rare opportunity for an unrestricted development in the area. Currently the house has no roof and the walls have been capped. The proposed build comprises three to four bedrooms and is to be designed around the barn’s traditional features, embracing the stone steps and original archways. A proportion of the original Westmorland slates on site are included in the sale. Set over two storeys, plans show an entrance porch, dining/kitchen area, living room, three bedrooms (one en suite) and a family bathroom. A large window on the landing and staircase area will ensure plenty of light enters the building. Two of the bedrooms will be south facing, from which prospective buyers will benefit from spectacular views over the garden and rolling countryside. A possible fourth bedroom or office/ snug will sit on the lower floor, offering the opportunity for an open fireplace. Externally lies a spacious garden with views over surrounding farmland, an Angel of Asby stone feature and parking for one vehicle. The garden has
100 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
a new post-and-rail fence and is partly stone walled, and the neighbouring properties will retain right of access over the driveway. Mains water and drainage comes from the road adjacent to the entrance drive, while electricity poles stand near the rear garden. The village of Great Asby itself is an active village community. Situated around four miles from the market town of Appleby-in-Westmorland, it has a pub, well-rated primary school, village church and bus service. Nearby villages have secondary schools, shops and sports clubs. Church View Barn is on sale with a guide price of ÂŁ90,000. (michael-cl-hodgson.co.uk) Views over rolling countryside.
Plans show three first-floor bedrooms and a family bathroom.
PLOTBROWSER
(whatever your budget)… The hamlet of Over Alderley is home to The Barn at Birtles Farm, situated on Hocker Lane, a rural area lined with highquality houses. The barn itself comprises two pretty red-brick buildings. lanning permission was granted in 2017 by Cheshire East Council under reference 17/4812M. Approval was given for the barn’s conversion into residential accommodation, which will have stunning southerly views. Work on the unit will begin following the demolition of existing lean-to structures and extensions. The proposed house will have an approximate floor area of 1,668 sq ft, comprising two reception rooms, study and three first-floor double bedrooms, all en suite. A downstairs dining hall will lead to the main reception room, with french doors opening onto the gardens. A glazed family room will link the barns, where an open-plan kitchen/breakfast room will sit, accommodating a central island unit. Adjacent, the snug will be located, with one glazed elevation. The finished barn will sit in grounds of around one acre, with further agricultural land available by separate
An aerial view of Birtles Farm.
P
negotiation. While the gardens will wrap around each other, the main section will lie to the rear of the house with a south-facing elevation. There are currently no services connected to the plot. A drive at its northern edge will be communal, with a management company set up to oversee its maintenance. Over Alderley is located three miles from the popular village of Alderley Edge, with Macclesfield, Prestbury and Wilmslow all nearby. Alderley Edge will provide prospective buyers with a range of shops, bars and restaurants, and a variety of local schools are on offer, including private schools Alderley Edge School for girls, and Manchester Grammar. The Barn is for sale with the Wilmslow branch of Jackson-Stops with a market price of £595,000. (jackson-stops.co.uk)
Markings show The Barn for conversion.
The Barn will sit in land of circa one acre.
A CGI of the proposed house shows the glazed family room.
The outline of the plot for sale.
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The following pages contain a sample of the plots, renovations and conversion opportunities which are available on PlotBrowser.com this month. To search for more plots across the UK, and receive free notifications of new plots in your county, sign up today at www.plotbrowser.com. East Council, application number 18/2052N. Price band: £250,001£300,000. Private seller, 01617 681 199, thomas.thorns@livingsmart.co.uk SANDIWAY Plot adj to Hadrian Way – Single building plot with full planning permission for the erection of a detached four-bedroom dwelling of around 2,200 sq ft in a popular residential area. Cheshire West and Chester ref: 18/02406/FUL. Guide price: £250,000. Wright Marshall, 01829 731 300, tarporley@wrightmarshall.co.uk
CORNWALL
MACCLESFIELD, CHESHIRE Eddisbury Bungalow, Eddisbury Hall Lane – Building plot with planning permission to build a RIBA award-winning four-bedroom contemporary bungalow. Just under 7 acres in Greenbelt with stunning views, nestled down a quiet lane (Cheshire East Council ref: 16/0407M). OIEO £495,000. Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01625 540 340, wilmslow@jackson-stops.co.uk
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
CHESHIRE
KENNETT, NEWMARKET Building Plot, Station Road – Full planning consent has been granted by East Cambridgeshire District Council (03/00822/FUL) for the erection of a three- to four-bedroom detached dwelling. Price band: £150,001-£200,000. Abbotts Countrywide, 01638 280 178, mildenhall@abbottscountrywide.co.uk
ALPRAHAM The Elms Barn (Lot 2) – An attractive detached brick and slate traditional barn with planning permission for change of use to a single residential unit. Application No. 16/3522N. Estimated approx. floor area 2598.6 sq ft. Total area grounds and land 4.329 acres. Guide price £395,000. Wright Marshall, 01829 731 300, tarporley@wrightmarshall.co.uk
WISBECH Pear Barn One, Cross Lane – Pear Barn One offers the opportunity to convert two barns into one making a four-bedroom home (Fenland DC ref: F/YR16/0176/PNC04). Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Haart, 01945 467 555, wisbech@haart.co.uk
ASTON JUXTA MONDRUM Open countryside plot on Church Road – A pair of plots available together or individually. Full planning permission has been granted for executive five-bedroom detached houses of approx 2,500 sq ft along with a detached double garage. Planning permission granted by Cheshire
BODMIN Cherrywood House, Pound Lane – Building plot to the side of Cherrywood House with outline planning permission (Cornwall PA18/03824) for a single dwelling. The site measures approx 8m x 22m. Guide price: £69,000. Webbers, 01208 732 98, bodmin@webbers.co.uk LAUNCESTON Plot at Ridgegrove Hill – Plot with planning consent for detached dwelling. Well sized with two reception rooms and four bedrooms. Sheltered position, located off a private access lane. Within walking distance of Launceston town centre. Cornwall council ref: PA18/05304. OIEO £100,000. Kivells, 01566 777 777, launceston@kivells.com MOUSEHOLE Adj. Paul Lane bungalows, Mousehole Lane – Building plot with conditional outline permission for a detached dwelling (Cornwall Council ref: PA18/01375). This infill site measures 18m x 20 m and has sea views. Located within the village in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Price band: £150,001-£200,000. Goundrys, 01872 552 560, gareth@goundrys.co.uk NEWBRIDGE PENZANCE Bosvenning Place – Planning permission
GOT A PLOT TO SELL? Go to PlotBrowser.com and register as a seller to list your plot for FREE has been granted (PA17/03941) for the construction of a four-bedroom detached property with gardens and parking. Robert Williams, 01392 204 800, sales@robertwilliams.co.uk ST. AUSTELL Building Plot, Poltair Road – Individual building plot with planning permission for a four-bedroom detached property. (Cornwall Council ref: PA18/03384). Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Jefferys, 01726 73483, staustell@jefferys.uk.com TRESMEER, LAUNCESTON Building Plot – Building plot in a popular rural hamlet with permission granted for a three-bedroom detached property with garage, off-street parking and gardens with countryside views. Cornwall Council ref: PA16/07220. Price band: £50,001£100,000. View property, 01566 706 706, sales@viewproperty.org.uk
COUNTY DURHAM BINCHESTER Barns for Conversion, Crag Farm – Two barns for conversion to residential dwellings. Planning permission for a four-bedroom single-storey dwelling and an attached two-storey three-bedroom family home. Sold with land extending to 4.25 acres. Planning ref: DM/16/01050/ FPA. Price band: £200,001-£250,000. George F White, 01388 527 966, wolsingham@georgefwhite.co.uk FERRYHILL Rowlandson Terrace – Residential plot with approved planning permission
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for a four-bedroom detached dormer bungalow with three off-road parking spaces and gardens. OIEO £39,950. Robinsons Estate Agents, 01388 420 444, info@robinsonsspennymoor.co.uk
WICKHAM BISHOPS Maypole Road – Building plot with planning consent granted for replacement of the existing property with a detached two-storey dwelling house of approx 6,000 sq ft with carport. The site is approx 0.6 acres. Maldon DC ref. 17/01021/OUT. OIEO £700,000. Hilbery Chaplin, 01277 356 456, ingatestone@hilberychaplin.co.uk
STOCKTON ON TEES Preston Lane, Eaglescliffe – 0.25 acre plot with detailed planning permission in place for a four-bedroom executive style dwelling with double garage, positioned on the banks of the River Tees and backing onto Preston Park & Nature Reserve. Additional 2.5 acre garden plot and pony paddock with tack room and stables available to lease. Stockton Borough Council ref: 17/0978/FUL. Guide price: £275,000. Michael Poole, 01642 955 140, billingham@michaelpoole.co.uk
CUMBRIA KIRKBY IN FURNESS Land at The Grange – Building plot of 1,750 sqm with planning permission for a four-bedroom dwelling. The plot has panoramic view over the estuary, Black Combe, the Lakes and the Peaks. Viewing by appointment only. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Corrie and Co Ltd, 01229 525 333, info@corrieandco.co.uk MILLOM Land behind Devonshire Road, Argyle Street – Parcel of land with garden area, garages and potting sheds, suitable for amenity and recreational use. Development potential having previous outline planning granted in 2013 for bungalow (Copeland BC ref: 4/13/2303/0O1). Price band: £100,001£150,000. Corrie and Co Ltd, 01229 355 333, info@corrieandco.co.uk TALLENTIRE Chestnut Copse – Plot of approx half acre level site on edge of village. Planning application submitted following positive pre planning advice. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Private seller, 01900 268 998.
DERBYSHIRE MACKWORTH, DERBY Plot, Westbourne Park – A plot of land with planning permission granted for a two-bedroom detached house with off road parking (Derby City ref: 01/18/00054). OIEO £40,000. The building plot can also be purchased with the adjoining property. Century 21, 01332 242 923, derby@century21uk.com OCKBROOK, DERBY Plot 2558 – A rare opportunity to purchase a block of arable and pasture land, woodland and fishing ponds along with planning for an agriculturally tied three-bedroom dwelling in rural location close to A52 Nottm to Derby. Guide Price £1,400,000. Julian Owen Associates Ltd., 0115 922 9831, enquiries@julianowen.co.uk
DEVON BUDLEIGH SALTERTON Swains Road – Single building plot
104 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
WEST HILL, OTTERY ST MARY, DEVON Highland Park, Bendarroch Road – Opportunity to build a traditionally designed four-bedroom family house of 2,700 sq ft with a detached double garage at the end of a sweeping drive through some lovely mature trees. Detailed planning (EDDC ref: 17/0753/RES). A level, south-facing plot with mature boundaries providing immediate seclusion. Guide price £350,000. Redferns Estate Agents, 01404 814 306, sales@redfernsproperty.co.uk with detailed planning consent for a contemporary three-bedroom detached house of circa 1,345 sq ft, set in the East Devon Jurassic Coastline town of Budleigh Salterton. East Devon DC ref: 14/1634/FUL. Price on application. Strutt & Parker, 01392 215 631, exeter@struttandparker.co.uk EXBOURNE Barn – Courtyard of barns with the benefit of detailed planning permission (ref. 3342/16/FUL) for conversion to create three dwellings. The proposed approx. gross internal floor areas of the properties are: Unit 1 – 1,065 sq ft. Unit 2 – 1,420 sq ft. Unit 3 990 sq ft. Guide price £275,000. Godfrey Short & Squire Ltd, 01837 545 04, info@gssproperty.com HALWILL JUNCTION, BEAWORTHY Building Plot – A plot of circa 600 sqm close to the village centre. Planning permission for a detached threebedroom property of circa 96sqm. Large garden to the rear. Torridge DC ref: 1/0472/2018/FUL. OIEO £100,000. Godfrey Short & Squire Ltd, 01837 545 04, info@gssproperty.com
ESSEX CHELMSFORD Bicknacre plot – 0.2 acre village plot with planning permission for a three- to four-bedroom cottage style home of circa 156 sqm with private entrance, parking, garage and south westerly facing rear garden. Chelmsford ref: 17/00052/FUL. Guide price: £325,000£350,000. Church & Hawes, 01245 225 853, danbury@churchandhawes.com THORPE-LE-SOKEN Plot, Station Road – A building plot of approx 46' x 85' with detailed planning consent (Tendring DC ref: 17/00914/FUL) for a three- to four-bedroom detached chalet bungalow in a semi-rural position on the outskirts of the village yet within close proximity of the station. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Essex Country and Village Homes, 01255 862 332, essex-country@btconnect.com
CHELTENHAM Vineyard Lane off Gloucester Road – Single plot with mains drainage, electric and water and with planning permission to a four-bedroom detached house with garage and parking. Cheltenham BC ref: 16/00680/FUL. Guide price: £185,000. Charterhouse Estate Agents, 01242 523 000, info@charterhouse4homes.co.uk LYDNEY Crump Farm House, Naas Lane – A Grade II Listed farmhouse and a detached derelict stone barn. This is a development project with plans drawn ready for planning application. Price band: £250,001-£300,000. Bidmead Cook, 01594 843 497, lydney@bidmeadcook.co.uk
HAMPSHIRE EMSWORTH Long Copse Lane – Mature building plot of around 0.4 acres occupying a corner position on a leafy rural lane. Detailed planning permission has been granted (Havant Borough Council ref: APP/18/00229) for the construction of a 2,600 sq ft detached family home. Guide price: £500,000. Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01243 786 316, chichester@jackson-stops.co.uk HAYLING ISLAND Hayling Island – Plot available on the southern part of Hayling Island. Permission has been granted (APP/18/00756) to knock down existing bungalow and build a three- to fourbedroom home. The plot is approx 20m
SILVERTON Plot, Coach Road – A modest but wellproportioned building plot. Previous application expired October 2018 (Mid Devon District Council ref 15/01234/ FUL) for a detached two-bedroom bungalow with off-road parking, and a reapplication has been submitted. Close to the village centre. Price band: £50,001£100,000. Robert Williams, 01392 204 800, sales@robertwilliams.co.uk SPARKWELL, PLYMOUTH Baccamore Shippen – A one-storey former agricultural shippen with planning consent for conversion to a three-bedroom residential dwelling. Set within a 743 sqm plot and accessed off a quiet country lane. South Hams DC ref: 0898/18/FUL. Price band: £150,001£200,000. Luscombe Maye, 01364 646 170, southbrent@luscombemaye.com
NAILSWORTH, GLOUCESTERSHIRE Tynings Road – Single building plot on an elevated site enjoying views over the town. Outline consent is in place for a two-bedroom detached house with parking and rear garden. Stroud ref: S.17/1668/OUT. OIEO £100,000. Perry Bishop and Chambers, 01285 646 770, landandnewhomes@perrybishop.co.uk
PLOTBROWSER
x 20m and has the potential for both sea and creek views. Asking price £260,000. Private seller, 07714 718 685.
completion of the former utility block to Carlton Hall. Hinkley & Bosworth BC ref: 18/00124/CONDIT. Guide price £250,000. Alexanders, 01455 291 471, mbsales@alexanders-estates.com
OAKLEY Plot, Andover Road – A plot of land (circa 0.23 acres) on the outskirts of village with approved planning for a detached four-double-bedroom detached family house of 2,370 sq ft with double garage and a secluded south-facing rear garden. Planning ref: 18/01068/FUL. Guide price £350,000. Jacobs Properties, 01256 781 300, sales@jacobs.properties SOUTHSEA Harold Road – Plot of land with planning permission for a two-bedroom, end-of-terrace house situated just off Albert Road. Portsmouth planning pef: 16/00309/FUL. Price band: £100,001£150,000. Tully & Co, 02392 732 241, sales@tullyand.co
HEREFORDSHIRE KINGTON Plot 2, Kingswood Road – A large development plot in open countryside, fully serviced and with outline planning consent for a substantial detached dwelling. Planning ref: P171775. Guide price £155,000. Flint & Cook, 01432 355 455, hereford@flintandcook.co.uk LITTLE BIRCH, HEREFORD Plot – A building plot with outline planning permission for the erection of a three-bedroom single-storey dwelling located in the thriving village of Little Birch. Planning permission number- 174578. Price band: £150,001£200,000. Hamilton Stiller, 01989 563525, sales@hamiltonstiller.co.uk
GREAT ECCLESTON, LANCASHIRE Butts Lane – At the end of the short lane. this site is currently ocucpied by a dilapidated log cabin. Outline planning permission is in place for a new build four-bedroom detached house. Wyre Council ref: 18/00221/OUT. Site benefits from all main utilities supply. Price band: £250,001-£300,000. Dewhurst Homes, 01995 601 814, garstang@dewhursthomes.co.uk dwelling. Price band: £100,001£150,000. R & R Urquhart, 01667 453 278, nairn@r-r-urquhart.com STRONTIAN Plot at Scotstown – Large level plot extending to around 0.83 acres with planning permission in principle (Ref:17/04596/PIP) for the erection of a house. Guide price: £79,000. MacPhee & Partners, 01397 702 200, property@macphee.co.uk WICK Plot, Coronation Street – A well maintained plot set in the desirable culde-sac. 834 sqm with a walled boundary in place. OIEO £65,000. d and h, 01847 894 379, tpd@dandhlaw.co.uk
HERTFORDSHIRE
KENT
EAST BARNET Brookside South – Single building plot with permission granted (Barnet) for a four-bedroom three-storey home in excess of 1,900 sq ft with provisions for off-street parking, refuse storage, a cycle store and rear garden. OIRO £350,000. Winkworth, 0208 447 5656, barnet@winkworth.co.uk
CHIDDINGSTONE CAUSEWAY, TONBRIDGE The Old Stables, Knotley Hall – The Old Stables are set in a well established plot of about 0.25 acres with planning permission for the demolition of the existing dwelling and garage, and the erection of a new fourbedroom house of about 2,016 sq ft. Sevenoaks DC ref: /17/03974/FUL. Guide price £650,000. Savills, 01732 789 700, sevenoaks@savills.com
ROYSTON Station Road – Approx. 1.25 acres of land with planning permission to convert an existing agricultural building to a 4,000 sq ft contemporary house with views to the front, rear and side. Guide price £695,000. Satchells, 01462 892 041, Baldock@satchells.co.uk WELLPOND GREEN, WARE Land with planning – Approx one acre of land with planning permission to build a classical country house of over 6,600 sq ft. Planning ref: 3/17/1900/ FUL - East Herts District Council. Guide price £1,000,000. Savills, 01279 756 800, bishopsstortford@savills.com
HIGHLAND NAIRN Plots 3, Merryton Gardens – Level building site of approx. 0.345 acres with planning in principle (Highland Council ref:17/01857/PIP) for one residential
BROUGHTON Durton Lane – Building plot with planning permission for a four- to six-bedroom detached property set over three floors to replace the existing garage on site. Planning ref: 06/2016/0329. Price band: £150,001£200,000. Dewhurst Homes, 01995 601 814, garstang@dewhursthomes.co.uk HORNBY Building Plot, Butt Yeats – A 0.8 acre plot with planning permission granted and foundations laid for a contemporary detached, two-storey, three-bedroom dwelling of approx 2,260 sq ft gross internal area. Lancaster City Council ref: 16/00903/FUL. Guide price £350,000. Fine & Country, 01524 380 560, sales@fineandcountry-lancaster.co.uk
LEICESTERSHIRE CARLTON Plot, Back Lane – A single building plot set behind a row of pretty cottages. The level plot is approx 740 sqm and has planning permission for a single bungalow and garage with potential to increase to a gross internal footprint of 1,644 sq ft. The garage will be the restoration and
MARKET HARBOROUGH Land off Burnmill Road – Single building plot of approx 0.6 acres with full planning permission (Harborough DC ref: 18/00280/FUL) for a fourbedroom property of around 2,900 sq ft with open bay parking and stunning open countryside views to the rear. Permission is also in place for two stables and a store. Guide price: £375,000. Naylors, 01858 450 020, sales@naylorsestateagents.com STOUGHTON The Courtyard, Gaulby Lane – A level building plot with planning consent for a stylish four-storey contemporary detached family home of over 4,400 sq ft. Harborough DC ref: 06/01550/FUL. Technical drawings and build tender available. Guide price: £310,000. Bentons, 01664 563 892, sales@bentons.co.uk
LINCOLNSHIRE BICKER, BOSTON Plot 1, Donington Road – A building plot with outline planning permission for the erection of a four-bedroom detached house. Boston Borough Council ref: B/18/0144. Price band: £50,001-£100,000. Pygott & Crone, 01205 359 111 / 01205 359 900, boston@pygott-crone.com LOUTH Plot 9 The Lanes, Horncastle Road, – A self build plot with full planning permission (East Lindsey DC ref: N/105/00753/17) for an executive, architect-designed, detached bungalow with garage. Price band: £150,001£200,000. Hunters Turner Evans Stevens, 01507 601 633, louth@hunters.com SPALDING Plot, Rear 42B Spalding Common – Individual building plot situated on the south eastern outskirts of Spalding. Outline planning ref: H16 1116-16 for a two-bedroom bungalow with garage and
WILLESBOROUGH LEES, ASHFORD The Orchard, Sandy Lane – Planning permission (Ashford Borough Council ref: 16/00806/AS) for a detached fourbedroom house, situated in the popular and convenient Willesborough Lees area of Ashford. Price band: £150,001£200,000. Hobbs Parker, 01233 502 222, property@hobbsparker.co.uk
LANCASHIRE BISPHAM Bentley Lane – Plot extending to around 4 acres, currently occupied by a threebedroom detached bungalow. Planning permission in place for a six-bedroom luxury detached residence in a stunning rural location. OIRO £650,000. Arnold & Phillips, 01257 452 702, eccleston@arnoldandphillips.com
SOUTHWELL, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Plot at Halloughton Road – Plot of just over 7,276 sq ft with full planning permission granted for a 2,200 sq ft modern detached three-bedroom home. Newark & Sherwood DC ref: 18/01258/FUL. Guide price: over £250,000. Alasdair Morrison, 01636 813 971, southwell@amorrison.co.uk
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garden. Price band: £50,001-£100,000. Pygott & Crone, 01775 717 366, spalding@pygott-crone.com WEST PINCHBECK, SPALDING Plot adj 158 Six House Bank – Individual plot with road frontage. Full planning permission for a three-bedroom detached house with a driveway. Planing ref: H14-0362-18. Price band: £50,001£100,000. Pygott & Crone, 01775 717 366, spalding@pygott-crone.com
NORFOLK FAKENHAM 31 Greenway Lane – A neglected bungalow standing in grounds of almost three-quarters of an acre. This brick and clay tiled property was built between the wars and to the rear is a matching shed with a dilapidated sectional garage beyond. OIEO £200,000. Brown & Co, 01263 713 143, holt@brown-co.com HOLME HALE, THETFORD Plot, Station Road – In a semi-rural location, this generous building plot approaching a quarter of an acre has outline planning permission for a detached three-bedroom bungalow with garage (planning reference 3PL/2018/0667/O). Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Longsons, 01760 721 389, info@longsons.co.uk NECTON Plot, Hale Road – A garden building plot of approx 280 sqm with outline planning permission granted for a single residential dwelling. Planning reference no: 3PL/2018/0730/O. Price band: £50,001-£100,000. Longsons, 01760 721 389, info@longsons.co.uk
NORTH YORKSHIRE DARLEY, HARROGATE Main Street – Land extending to 1.13 acres in a sought-after location with outline planning consent (Harrogate ref: 16/05561/OUT) for the erection of a single detached dwelling. Guide price: £495,000. Lister Haigh, 01423 730 700, harrogate@listerhaigh.co.uk MIDDLESBOROUGH High Lane, Maltby – 0.36 acre level plot with planning permission (Stockton ref: 16/0380/FUL) for the conversion and extension of the existing single-storey stable block for residential use. Guide price: £275,000. Michael Poole, 01642 955 140, billingham@michaelpoole.co.uk
planning permission for a single threebedroom bungalow secured as work on site has commenced. OIEO £95,000. Signature by Mark Small, 0191 251 3344, info@wearesignature.co.uk LOW FELL, GATESHEAD Plot, Ivy Lane – A single plot in a tucked away position at the head Ivy Lane and currently bound by woodland. Plans drawn up for a contemporary home that will offer four bedrooms and flexible ground floor space. The plot forms part of the grounds of Daisy Cottage. Price band: £150,001-£200,000. Fine & Country Jesmond, 0191 240 3333, residing@fineandcountry.com
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BRINSLEY Cordy Lane – Some foundations already laid and drainage done. Full planning granted. Views over Green-belt land. Planning ref: 05/01086/FUL Broxtowe Council. The site was originally twice the current width with planning granted for two large, detached family homes, one of which now built. Guide price £220,000. Whitegates, 0115 697 0777, nottingham@whitegates.co.uk RETFORD Ollerton Road – A plot with full planning permission for a detached two-bedroom dormer bungalow with a detached double garage. Please contact the office for further details and viewing arrangements. Price band: £50,001£100,000. Hunters, 01777 711 122, retford@hunters.com
OXFORDSHIRE
Plot at Bellevue Cottage, Oakbank Road – Plot accessed via Northfield Road, extending to approx 450 sqm with outline planning permission for a single-storey, three-bedroom detached bungalow. OIRO £50,000. Clyde Property, 01738 507 070, perth@clydeproperty.co.uk four-bedroom detached dwelling set in an elevated position in Goodwick and enjoying sea and countryside views. Price band: £50,001-£100,000. John Francis, 01348 873 070, fishguard@johnfrancis.co.uk SAUNDERSFOOT Plot, Velfrey Cottage, Church Terrace – Building plot with full planning permission for a three-bedroom detached house, situated within walking distance of the Saundersfoot village centre. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. FBM Estate Agents, 01834 842 207, tenby@fbm.co.uk
PERTH AND KINROSS BANBURY Oxford Road – A secluded building plot accessed via a private drive with planning permission for a low-impact detached dwelling of approx 3,100 sq ft. Cherwell planning reference 16/02095/F. Price band: £250,001£300,000. Savills, 01295 228 000/01295 228 010, banbury@savills.com FARINGDON Plot adjacent To Winslow House – Single building plot with detailed consent for a four-bedroom detached house. The plot is on the edge of this popular expanding town, convenient for both Swindon and Oxford. Guide price: £165,000. Perry Bishop and Chambers, 01285 646 770, landandnewhomes@perrybishop.co.uk
WISTOW Garmancarr Lane – Single building plot with detailed planning consent for the construction of a substantial five-bedroom dwelling with generous gardens. Selby DC ref: 2017/1256/FUL. OIEO £225,000. Stephensons Estate Agents, 01757 706 707, selby@stephensons4property.co.uk
STEVENTON High Street development opportunity. – Planning permission granted (Vale of White Horse ref: P16/V1295/ FUL) for conversion, extension and change of use of a garage and two B & B rooms into a three-bedroom detached dwelling. Guide price: £350,000. Chancellors, 01235 524 505, abingdon.sales@chancellors.co.uk
NORTHUMBERLAND
PEMBROKESHIRE
BELFORD The Steading – A building plot extending to approx 160 sqm in a semi-rural location close to Belford centre. Full
GOODWICK Plot adj, Illimani, Stop And Call – A freehold building plot with outline planning permission (18/0440/PA) for a
106 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
GUILDTOWN, PERTH AND KINROSS
KINROSS Garden plot, 27 Alexander Drive – A triangular-shaped plot that forms part of a mature garden which backs onto the old high school playing fields. Outline planning permission for a single dwelling. The Plot measures approximately 0.05 ha. Perth & Kinross Council ref: 16/01267/IPL. OIRO £65,000. McEwan Fraser Legal, Solicitors & Estate Agents, 0131 524 9797, info@mcewanfraserlegal.co.uk ST FILLANS Building Plot – Serviced house plot close to the shores of Loch Earn. Plot extends to approx 0.14 acres and has plans by award-winning local architects James Denholm Partnership for a traditionally-styled cottage, which will fit neatly alongside the older houses in the village. Fixed price: £59,995. Strutt & Parker, 0131 226 2500, edinburgh@struttandparker.com
LLANGAMMARCH WELLS Plot at Glen View – Sought-after development site benefiting from planning permission for the erection of a single detached dwelling with enclosed garden and far reaching views. Powys County Council ref: P/2012/1344. Guide price: £100,000. McCartneys, 01982 552 259, builth@mccartneys.co.uk RADNOR, PRESTEIGNE The Coach House, Water Street – Former coach house/garage in Conservation Area with full planning permission for demolition and erection of a onebedroom dwelling with one on-site car parking space (Powys County Council refs: P/2016/0845 and P/2016/0846). Price band: £50,001-£100,000. Chancellors, 01544 230 387, kington.sales@chancellors.co.uk
SHROPSHIRE TIBBERTON, NEWPORT Plantation Road – Single building plot of approx 0.18 of an acre with full planning permission for a detached house and double garage. Telford and Wrekin ref: TWC/2018/0494. Guide price: £190,000. Barbers, 01952 820 239, newport@barbers-online.co.uk WOORE Plot, London Raod – A 0.25 (approx) acre garden plot with planning permission for a detached five-bedroom house. Shropshire Council refs: 16/01287/OUT and 17/05586/DIS. Price band: £200,001£250,000. James Du Pavey, 01270 445 678, nantwich@jamesdupavey.co.uk
SOMERSET
POWYS LLANDRINDOD WELLS Plot, Waterloo Road – A good-sized plot which has planning consent for one detached dwelling located within walking distance to town centre amenities. Guide price £59,000. Chancellors, 01597 822 245, llandrindodwells.sales@chancellors.co.uk
CHEDDON FITZPAINE, TAUNTON Barton Barn – A traditional Grade II Listed stone barn with detailed residential planning and listed building consent for conversion with parking, a carport and outbuildings (refs : 08/17/0030 and 08/17/0031). Price band: £250,001-£300,000. Stags, 01823 256 625, taunton@stags.co.uk
PLOTBROWSER
UPPER BRAILES Main Street – Outstanding plot in attractive village location with full consent for a four-bedroom detached house of circa 1,671 sq ft. Frontage 47ft x depth 95ft, with further land available by separate negotiation. Price band: £150,001-£200,000. Countrywide Land. 07885 270 412, rex.elliott@countrywide.co.uk
WEST SUSSEX
SHREWSBURY, SHROPSHIRE Plot Adj 1 Westwood Drive, The Mount – A single building plot of approx 330 sqm in a highly sought-after area. Occupying a corner position within walking distance of the town centre, the plot has detailed planning permission for a detached threebedroom house. Shropshire County Council ref: 17/05428/FUL. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Roger Parry & Partners, 01743 343 343, shrewsbury@rogerparry.net TANSEY Cranmore – Single building plot in a rural location with planning permission for a single-storey three-bedroom family dwelling. Mendip DC ref: 2016/3066/ OTA. Guide price: £150,000. Cooper & Tanner, 01373 455 060 / 01373 455 100, development@cooperandtanner.co.uk WINSHAM, CHARD Barns at Whatley Farm – Opportunity to convert a pair of barns into Grand Designs style single-storey dwellings. The site amounts to approx. 0.8 acres, allowing each of the resulting properties to benefit from a spacious, private garden. South Somerset District Council ref: 16/02061/FUL. Guide price £250,000. Stags, 01935 475 000, yeovil@stags.co.uk
STAFFORDSHIRE ALREWAS Mill End Lane – Plot of 0.13 acres with planning permission to extend and alter the existing garage to form a two-bedroom dormer style property of around 114 sqm, set within a sought-after village Conservation Area. Lichfield ref: 18/00767/FUL. Guide price: £235,000. John German, 01543 419 121, lichfield@johngerman.co.uk FRADLEY, LICHFIELD Heath Gap – A site with full planning permission for one three-bedroom detached family home alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal. The plot size is approx 0.62 of an acre. Lichfield District Council planning ref 13/00750/ FUL is for a dwelling of approx 2,819 sq ft and associated works. Price band: £250,001-£300,000. Bill Tandy & Co, 01543 419 400, lichfield@billtandy.co.uk STAFFORD Land, Mill Bank – Detailed planning consent (Stafford Borough Council ref: 15/22795/FUL) for a single dwelling located within the town centre in a Conservation Area. The consented house will be two-and-a-half storeys with four bedrooms. For sale by Modern Method
of Auction. Auction guide price £40,000. D B Roberts & Partners, 01785 255 800, stafford@dbroberts.co.uk
SUFFOLK BADWELL ASH Plot, The Street – A building plot with full planning permission for a detached four- to five-bedroom dwelling in an established edge of village setting. Detached house and separate doublebay cartlodge garage. Mid Suffolk District Council ref: DC/17/05056. Price band: £250,001-£300,000. Sheridans, 01284 700 018, info@sheridans.ltd.uk OLD NEWTON, NEAR STOWMARKET Applewhite House, Finningham Road, – A level building plot of about 0.4 acres in an attractive rural location about 3.5 miles north of Stowmarket. Outline planning permission granted by Mid-Suffolk District Council for a single detached house of around 2,500-2,700 sq ft, or for two detached houses of up to about 2,000 sq ft each. MSDC references DC/17/05506 and DC/18/00599. Price band: £250,001-£300,000. Private seller, 01728 720 710.
BRIGHTON Vessel House, Rock Grove – Set in the heart of Kemp Town, planning permission has been granted (ref BH2016/01121) to convert the existing structure and create a stunning and contemporary fivebedroom home with a private garden set over three floors. OIRO £500,000. Mishon Mackay – Land & Development, 01273 829 300 / 01273 829 317, mhollywood@mishonmackay.com SOUTHWICK 116 Old Shoreham Road – A vacant building plot with planning approved to build a detached three- to fourbedroom house with parking and southerly rear garden (Adur & Worthing Council ref: AWDM/1669/17). Price band: £150,001-£200,000. Mishon Mackay – Land & Development, 01273 829 300 / 01273 829 317, mhollywood@mishonmackay.com
WEST YORKSHIRE FOULRIDGE Lower Barn, Lower Broach Farm, Skipton Road – For Sale By Informal Tender. Character building with planning permission granted to convert into a twobedroomed bungalow. Set in a stunning semi-rural location, with far reaching views. Planning Reference Number – 18/0425/FUL. Guide price £100,000. Dacre, Son & Hartley, 01756 701 010, skipton@dacres.co.uk GOLCAR, HUDDERSFIELD Carr Top Lane – A site of 460 sqm with detailed planning consent for a detached house with a gross floor area
of 1,325 sq ft (Kirklees Council ref: 2016/62/90245/W). Access is from an existing private drive that serves a small number of surrounding dwellings. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Holroyd Miller, 01924 299 494, shannon@holroydmiller.co.uk MIRFIELD The Clough – Residential building plot set in an established residential neighbourhood with a bright, southerly aspect. After a well received pre-planning consultation, a planning application has recently been submitted to the local authority for a contemporary detached five-bedroom dwelling. Price band: £100,001-£150,000. Whitegates, 01924 493 269, mirfield@whitegates.co.uk
WORCESTERSHIRE PERSHORE Mill Lane Close – Sub-division of garden at 8 Mill Lane Close with access into the plot from existing drive and garage. Outline consent for dwelling comprising two bedrooms with parking for two vehicles. Wychavon Planning application number: 18/01407/FUL. Price band: £50,001-£100,000. Nigel Poole & Partners, 01386 556 506, tania.port@nigelpooleestateagents.co.uk STOCK GREEN, REDDITCH The Former Bird in Hand Public House – Former pub with consent for change of use to a five-bedroom detached dwelling of circa 2,700 sq ft. Price band: £300,001-£450,000. Private seller, pthomas@nonch.co.uk STOULTON The Old Coal Yard, Old Windmill Hill – A building plot with planning permission to demolish existing commercial storage building and build a work/live dwelling and commercial storage structure. Wychavon DC ref: 17/02199/FUL. Price band: £150,001£200,000. Andrew Grant, 01527 66161, redditch@andrew-grant.co.uk
SURREY WORCESTER PARK Vicarage Close – A spacious spot in a quiet secluded cul-de-sac with planning permission for a four-to-five bedroom family home in a wonderful location. Kingston Council ref: 16/14626/FUL. Guide price £775,000. Hunters, 0208 568 2929, brentford@hunters.com
WARWICKSHIRE BURTON GREEN Plot, Red Lane – Plot of land situated in a highly sought-after semi-rural location. Outline planning permission for a detached dwelling providing the opportunity to build an exclusive highend home set on a plot of approximately half an acre. Warwick DC ref: W/16/1915. Guide price £450,000. Brian Holt, 01926 864 408, kenilworth@brianholt.co.uk
BEAUSALE, WARWICKSHIRE School Lane – Rural plot with detailed planning permission for the construction of a four-bedroom detached home of around 2,000 sq ft. Warwick District Council ref: W/18/0471. Price on application. Peter Clarke, 01926 429 400, leamington@peterclarke.co.uk
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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Please contact Rachael Grignon on 01283 742964 for your Product Choice placement
PRODUCT CHOICE
IRONMONGERYDIRECT The KLUG barn strap sliding door gives period homes a unique look or adds a special feature to any home. Easy to install and suitable for doors weighing up to 100kg, this kit contains everything you need for smooth sliding rustic looking wooden doors with a modern finish. The added soft open and close version prevents doors from slamming. Klug Barn Strap Sliding Door – £69.95. Soft Open / Close – £99.00.
MAKITA The MAKITA 10.8v CXT tool range is growing in popularity, driven by the compact size and low weight combined with outstanding performance and durability. The new Makita TD111D impact driver with brushless motor delivers an outstanding 135Nm of tightening torque yet weighs just 1.1kgs with an overall length of only 135mm from chuck to back of body. It features the latest A-mode impact operation, which drives the fixture slowly to begin with until the thread tightening reacts when the full power is switched on.
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For further information please contact:
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01908 211678 | www.makitauk.com
GROHE
ENGLISH BROTHERS
Whether it’s a new build or a bathroom renovation project, the demand for luxurious, ergonomic and modern spa bathrooms continues to increase, with the introduction of GROHE’s brand new extra-low profile shower trays, this can now be easily implemented in the home. GROHE shower trays are designed to be a PerfectMatch: they not only match with any of the three sanitaryware design lines, but can also be optimally combined with other GROHE bathroom accessories too.
ENGLISH BROTHERS is a f amily business with incredible heritage and expertise. We pride ourselves in providing clients throughout the UK with completely bespoke insulated timber frame kits, oak frames and glulam frame. Our highly skilled and dedicated team use highly advanced software combined with years of handson industr y experience to provide our clients with an excellent personal service. We offer completely bespoke thermal performance with a choice of natural and man-made materials.
For further information please contact:
For further information please contact:
www.grohe.co.uk
01945 427985 | www.eb-bespoke.co.uk
LOTUS FIRES
URBAN GRAIN
With an elegant stone frame and steel exterior the LOTUS STYLE range brings the sophisticated aesthetics of an inset fire in a freestanding stove format. Available in two sizes, the 370 and 470W, this stove can be selected in either Soapstone, Limestone, or Indian Night Stone frames, as well as a log store base for added elevation. An optional store box can also be included to keep fuel, gloves and accessories out of sight.
URBAN GRAIN are a Manchester based workshop of interior designers, furniture designers and skilled craftsmen producing stunning bespoke industrial furniture and accessories from a wide range of ethically sourced components. The reclaimed pine scaffolding boards URBAN GRAIN use have been de-commissioned from the construction industry which would otherwise be sent to landfill. As a company URBAN GRAIN strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible only ever using eco-friendly finishes.
For further information please contact:
For further information please contact:
lotusfires.com
0161 336 0524 | www.urbangrain.co.uk
CAESARSTONE
LOCHANNA KITCHENS
Launched this summer, 4601 Frozen Te r ra j o i n s t h e CA E S A R STO N E Metropolitan Collection of industrial inspired quartz stone surfaces. The robustness of the concrete is lightened by a tinted shade of white while small quartz pieces and irregular black accents add another layer of interest. The Collection has been designed to reflect the authentic textures of raw manufacturing, such as oxidized steel, poured plaster and raw concrete.
The new Elswick Collection from British kitchen brand LOCHANNA KITCHENS is available in 27 colours, from cool greys to daring blues and deep purples. Its solid timber, narrow framed shaker doors with a veneered centre panel bring a sense of elegance that is especially suited to an open plan kitchen. Contrasting glossy doors from their Mala Collection can be designed alongside Elswick to bring the look into the modern era. Elswick is the ultimate hybrid design of the very best of European and British looks.
For further information please contact:
For further information please contact:
0800 158 8088 | www.caesarstone.co.uk
www.lochannakitchens.co.uk
108 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
To advertise in SelfBuild & Design, please contact: Rachael Grignon on 01283 742964 or rachael.grignon@wwonline.co.uk
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a button on a hand transmitter. GaraMatic operators are expertly engineered to ensure fast and smooth opening with total control and the hand transmitters incorporate bi-directional radio signals which are heavily encrypted for high security. Garador’s retractable Up & Over doors also come with a unique parking position and multiple spring cassette, to ensure that the door is always safe to use. They come in panelled or ribbed designs, as well as a choice of 18 colours and 2 timber effect finishes.
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SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019
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PREVIEW Next month
Next month February issue on sale 28th December
From hut to boho holiday home This bohemian retreat started life as a shepherd’s hut, which has been extended and remodelled to create a pared-back yet sumptuous property.
TRULY INDIVIDUAL SELF BUILDS
ICF build This octagonal waterside house was built using Nudura insulated concrete forms in a lood zone, on the site of a derelict boatyard.
Country -style home This timberclad timberframe home, supplied by Potton, is a perfect it for its rural location.
Making THE RIGH T connectio ns
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO UTILITIES
INTERVIEW Marcus Fairs is founder and editor-in-chief of Dezeen, which is regarded as the most inluential and popular design website in the world. He is the irst digital journalist to be awarded an honorary fellowship of RIBA.
SelfBuild & Design JANUARY 2019 111
TOPPING OUT Gerald Cole
THE END OF THE
HOUSING LADDER? Selfbuilders need to think further ahead than ever, argues Gerald Cole.
I
t’s not often that a major Hollywood movie combines two of my abiding passions – science fiction, that is, and housing – but that’s exactly what the recent Matt Damon vehicle Downsizing achieved. It really is about moving from one barely affordable house to another on a completely different scale, thereby making dramatic cost savings. But, being Hollywood, it’s not just the house that changes scale. It’s the occupants, too. Thanks to a vague but convenient process discovered by Norwegian scientists, Mr Damon is shrunk to a height of just five inches. By selling his small, cramped, heavily mortgaged family home he is easily able to afford a huge, multi-bedroomed, chateau-style mansion – mainly because it’s the size of the average doll’s house. Miniaturisation would certainly do a lot to resolve Britain’s ongoing housing crisis. But in the non-Hollywood world the nearest we get is the steady shrinking of the average developer’s property and the rise of micro-apartments, aimed generally at young singletons. Both, of course, are good reasons to consider building your own home. But how exactly should you build it? The question is likely to be more complex today than in previous decades for at least two good reasons. One is that the time you spend in your new home may well be longer than you plan. Declining incomes, rising property prices and high stamp duty mean that moving house every seven years or so – the traditional average at the turn of the century – is either financially impossible or wildly uneconomic. In other words, one of the main reasons for self build – jumping a rung or two on the property ladder – is far less important than it was. The pendulum has swung towards the second main reason for self build: building a ‘forever’ home, traditionally prompted mainly by retirement and downsizing. The other major factor to consider is climate change. Whatever the causes, the weather is becoming more extreme, and more unpredictable, and we need to take account of that in the way we heat – and cool – our homes. These are the issues examined in a recent report by the National House Building Council (NHBC). The UK’s
112 JANUARY 2019 SelfBuild & Design
“The pendulum has swung towards the second main reason for self build: building a ‘forever’ home.” best-known provider of warranties and insurance for new homes, it also sets the bulk of the UK’s building standards. Entitled Futurology, the report looks 30 years into the future to judge what the homes of 2050 might be like. It also takes into account a handful of basic statistics. They include the increasing numbers of people currently living alone (up 51 per cent over the last 20-odd years), of young adults living with their parents (now onethird of 20- to 34-year-olds) and of people aged over 85 (likely to double by 2041.)
Flexibility So what recommendations does it have to make your build 2050-ready? Flexibility is the key word in future-ready design. A layout that suits a couple or a young family today should be adaptable to cope with adult offspring who can’t afford to leave and, perhaps, even their offspring. Multi-generational homes, once the norm in western societies, are likely to become much more common – and not just out of financial necessity. Other generations can provide childcare and care for the elderly, as well as companionship, plus the benefits of multiple incomes. In practical terms that means the ability to create areas with specific functions as and when they are required. Think home offices, quiet spaces and even self-contained accommodation for teenagers, the elderly or lodgers. On large plots extensions into the garden can often meet that need most easily. But on an urban site where space is likely to be more limited, and planning rules stricter, building those options in at the design stage is usually more sensible. The report offers townhouse designs over three and four storeys, sacrificing much of the garden space – a process already underway with the growing popularity of garden studios. Instead, outside space is provided by either terraces on the upper floors, a small courtyard at ground level, or both.
All the internal walls are lightweight partitions which can be removed or rearranged. To make this easier all pipework and wiring runs through the external walls and a central core, which might include the staircase and an adjacent space on each floor. This space is large enough to take a small one- or two-person lift, which can be installed later if needed. Until then it can act as a cupboard or storage area. Meanwhile each floor has either a bathroom or shower room with toilet. One or more of the upper floors can also contain the plumbing and electrics for a kitchen, enabling it to become self contained. One design featured in the report adds an external staircase rising from a courtyard to the top floor, allowing it to be entirely separate from the rest of the house, if needed. As to the weather in 2050, the report assumes heavier rainfall, more heatwaves, storms and drought and also unpredictable fluctuations in temperature – ‘summer days’ in winter, and vice versa. To combat overheating, it suggests ample exterior shading and secure ventilation at roof height – ideally over stairwells – to allow excessive warm air to rise through the house. It also recommends careful thought before choosing masonry construction – still Britain’s favourite – since thermal mass is slow to heat and cool. Underfloor heating, too, with its slow response times, may not suit a volatile climate. On the other hand, those effects can be mitigated by using thermal stores such as large water cylinders or groundcoupled heat exchangers. These are tubes, either empty or fluid-filled, buried over a metre deep in the ground where the temperature is around 10C throughout the year. As a result they can be used either to dump excessive heat or draw cool air into the house. And if all that sounds a bit high tech, it’s how ground source heat pump central heating systems work.
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SelfBuild & Design MAY 2016
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