We have just submitted our dream home to planning. All being well we should have a decision in February.
Still haven't been given a date by Scottish Power...
Hello, A piece of 'legislation' I wasn't aware of.
https://www.righttobuildportal.org/?utm_source=Custom+Build+Strategy+Main+Database&utm_campaign=f0c0a00506-NOV_2017_PROFILE_1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5b24ee15a-f0c0a00506-176850693
This info came on an email today, I guess via the people behind Buildit magazine and the Custom build strategy team ( NSB+RS) in Swindon.I assume that's all Castle Media!
All very interesting and poignant.
I di
We have our building warrant, FINALLY. I have a new job. The small one has started school.
MBC are here. The glorious day of the 29th August arrived, and so did the vans, carrying Brendan's crew. The sun was shining, tonnes of sand were delivered and painstakingly spread out. It's amazing how much time the MBC boys took to make sure everything was exactly level before carrying on, I found the level of care that was taken very reassuring, and of course Sean was on hand with a terribl
Greetings all...I am curious about the rise and rise of the use of bi-folds and similar devices to throw open a room to the elements. Virtually every illustrated Self/custom build appear to show bi-folds fully open. Could I ask why this is? Could members tell me how often they use them? Do you believe, in hindsight, are they such a grand idea or mere advertising puff? Surely, such huge glazed doors/windows are not very green and are net losses to a heating load.
I live in a converted, yet i
Finally!! At last there seems to be light at the end of the renovation tunnel. We had planned to have the house finished and up for sale by spring 2017 but that did not happen. Then the deadline was summer but no such luck , everything seems to take twice as long to do than planned. But at last we are nearing the finish line. The kitchen arrived at the end of October from Howdens and I thought we'd have it all fitted within a couple of weeks. Yet here we are nearing the end of November an
This was a response to a forum thread (elsewhere) and something that has been touched on in an earlier blog.
I designed a small mock coach house, at the end of a very long garden. (It was mock to the planners, and a possible nimby backlash, and their were no coaches) The site was less than 5.6m and agreement had been reached to build on the boundary thus leaving an internal width of 3.6m. Plainly there were no projections over the neighbour's land and the wall and gutters etc were d
This is a blog that I posted a while back on another forum that encourages people to look beyond prejudices fashion wth a view to exploring a pre-owned house that on first glance does not meet up with expectations and even the list of wants.
A Peter Aldington House, near Doncaster, from 1967 (arguably one of the finest Post War Architects in the UK) recently changed hands. It was sold via a bold estate agent calling themselves "The Modern House" Plainly this doesn't mean a house tha
There really is a sense that we are approaching the business end of our self build project – the thinking, reading and talking has now evolved into making firm commitments and paying deposits to secure various orders.
Ahead of our permanent move to the Borders in February 2018, [Rented accommodation] we travelled to the area in late October with the express determination to finalise matters with a local builder and to confirm the stone we are going to use, the specification for the oak car
This is the Part II roll up of a couple of earlier blog posts and forum topics which provide the groundwork and context.
Plumbing Design – Part I
Heating the Slab – an overview
Modelling the "Chunk" Heating of a Passive Slab
Another DHW / DCW / UFH design.
in summary, so far into commissioning and early use, everything is at least achieving our expectations and the house might in fact perform better than my predictions. The key des
So, after the last entry - we had a clear site, filled with many, many tonnes of compacted hardcore. All was well. No more digging, the wobbly wall hadn't fallen down, angry neighbours had been pacified with cake.
Onwards and upwards!
Well, not quite. We still didn't have our building warrant. We had applied for a staged warrant for foundations and frame, naively thinking that this would be quicker that going for the full thing. We had submitted the MBC plans, MBC engin
Aye, as a guide for design decision making, prompts and reminders if you're starting out, this is a must. I make no apologies for this recommendation, which I started using in 1979. " A Pattern Language" by Chris Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein and colleagues is a must...throw away the plan books and use words to explore any sketches to assist in list making of wants, desires, must-haves, dislikes etc. There's no glossy fashion shots, many black and white photos to amplify the theme. The book i
Aye, the subtitle of a book, that inspires me, by Diane Maddex called "Wright Sized Houses". Published in 2003 (about £20 on ABEbooks), this is a dissection of some of Frank Lloyd Wright's house designs over six decades. He lived from 1867 to 1959.
As the title implies, he shows how, amongst his big houses on huge spreads in the States, his tenets apply equally to small houses on conceivably restricted sites. Commenting on FLW's attitudes to entrances Ms Maddex writes "...You could
Woke up this morning in our new home! Now sat on the sofa watching tv in my new home, waiting for a full day of rugby TV to start so I can sit and sip cold beers in my new home!
Can you tell I’m pleased?!
Facts and Figures
1 year, 1 month, 14 days
(Breaking Ground to Moving in)
4 Double Bedrooms
3 Ensuite
1 Family Bathroom
1 WC
Open plan lounge kitchen diner
Utility Room
Double Garage
Workshop
Aye, this was a question raised on another forum, some time ago, and my thoughts. Whether 'Passive House Design should or would spawn spatially exciting architecture?' To my mind passive house design can end up with too much glass, which seems to be trend in new houses. That in itself provoked an inconclusive discussion, mainly based on heat loss versus heat gain...To be honest the jury seemed to be out on that one, without active participation of occupants to open and close external shutters an
OK, a slightly different blog format...suggestion from aregular member...
I am moved to recommend a book by Bill Bryson, who seems to shoot from the hip as it were to inspiring effect! In fact I pick up everything he's written in the local charity shop now. Sorry Bill if you're reading this, (which is extremely unlikely I know) I did by 'At Home...a short history of private life' at full hardback price, and worth every penny!
The Book (reviewed in Guardian Weekend with a
I mention in an earlier blog the desirability of considering the outdoor spaces and gardens at the same time as the house design.
Circulation and spatial thinking are very similar to the house layout. Making decisions about entrances and thresholds, capitalising on views and vistas, (to say nothing of orientation and overlooking/shadowing...See Survey blog) sitting places in morning and evening sun as well as dappling if you cannot stand direct sun! It's a good idea to list activitie
There are different views about Planning Consultants, and whether they should be used.
This is a short example of a Planning Consultant offering superb advice, that most of us self-builders would perhaps not think about.
The Problem
I have just received a Planning Permission, after 3 months of engagement with the Council. It is a commercial Change of Use but the lesson applies to self-builder permssions. We received our permission, but on the last morning the
A diversion, but with reference to earlier blogs.
I usually buy the Times on Fridays for the excellent property section 'Bricks and Mortar' which has been running for quite a few years now. Unfortunately they operate a paywall, so it's not so simple, and annoying, to quote from the paper, I find.
However in the recent edition (3 November '17) in the section called Prime Properties, they briefly review a 17th century cottage, a true doll's house, with the 'Downside comment
Ha, French for pocket: Not a term much used in building or design.
A few blogs ago, I described a way of considering garden design as an alternative to creating borders and cutting shapes out of a lawn, or indeed starting in one corner and making shapes, of just planting specimen plants towards another corner. This is a more holistic approach based on listing all conditions of the garden (see site analysis blog), then listing wants, needs, desires, uses of spaces etc for the proposed
I will write about the install of my MVHR system, as this is something I have done myself (with help). Theo house is being built by my contractor, supervised by my Architect and QS (who is the CDM). As I am remote from the location I can only watch what happens on CCTV. When I was last there the old house was standing and we had disconnected the services. 6 Months later, I have a new house, Weather tight shell, Windows and doors in, sarking and felt on, and tiles and PV being fitted. I am do
Aye...Most of the commentary, ideas and thoughts, in these blogs are based around traditional thinking, based on some, in my opinion, of many of the most interesting architects of the last 150 years. My constant references to Baillie Scott, Arthur Martin, and thoughts about Arts and Crafts houses, must highlight this. References and quotes from Pattern Language, and even Charles Moore, do hark back to tradition. However tradition is well and truly part of the works of Aalto, Scarpa Hans Scharoun
Hello, I touch on this subject again because it can be and should be as important as the house. I looked at this a few years ago, on another forum, in response to a member who had been asked to submit a rough design for the front garden and, by his own admission, had no idea where to start. I mention in the book an approach to garden spaces by listing likely activities, desires, wants etc all dependent on relationship to house, climate, sun angles, overshadowing etc, but this blog is more about
Apart from 'A Place of Houses, see earlier blog and several Frank Lloyd Wright books, I don't seem to come across many American house design books but I recommend William Turnbull's 'Buildings in the Landscape'. He worked Charles Moore et al on the Californian Sea Ranch project back in the 70s. OK there's lots of land there and plainly rather less planning restrictions, but the buildings are most interesting...double height living and circulation spaces, timber frame, with timber cladding in mos
