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We worked closely with Mélanie and Béranger to design a beautiful but affordable house, with a flexible layout and minimal environmental footprint. We brought together the different requirements of their family project, respecting the identity of the 200 year old stone building while responding to the practical requirements of its new use.

A particular feature of this project is that the client will manage the building process themselves, so we carefully phased the construction to make sure that the house would be comfortable and accommodating during the process, which may take years to complete. We also carefully considered the family’s cashflow over time, and their future aspirations and projects (the house will eventually double as a guesthouse!).

Our key achievements in this project:

• Understanding the existing building and site:
  • a detailed measured survey so the new structure can fit around the old
  • a careful condition survey to establish the need for repair and conservation work
  • an understanding of key views, approaches and landscape requirements for the conversion project
• A sustainability study:
  • understanding and exploiting the site’s natural resources
  • carefully balancing the client’s lifestyle choices, budget and aspirations to design sustainability measures that will work
  • locating new openings to make best use of natural ventilation and daylighting
  • complete on-site water management, including rainwater collection and reed bed waste water treatment
  • a heating system using locally produced wood pellets
• Self build construction phasing:
  • the house is designed in a series of stages, starting with a space to park a caravan…
  • the plan and structural system work together to create habitable spaces at each phase
  • later disruption is avoided by building-in flexibility as the work progresses

You can follow the progress of this self-build project on our client’s blog!