ChrisInKent

Added a N and arrow on the plot plan. The ‘front’ of the house faces South West, the balcony is N/NW. The thinking with the living room was if it ever did need to be a bedroom it could have a small patio outside it with access or a vies out. It looks into the garden and the neighbours front garden in the distance.

Hi everyone. We’re going through planning to build this barn. It’s a demolition and self-build so won’t be using the existing open metal structure if approved. I’m after your insights. It’s up a farm track, a rural plot with lovely views to the south west. The original planning approval was for a 6-bed but we’ve made it smaller (4-bed) than the footprint of the existing allows. Mainly for cost and sustainability reasons but also because we want a good sized garage. There’s just two of us but we both work from home and need separate work spaces. We’ve tried to future proof with the sitting room downstairs which could be a bedroom if needed. We’re happy with compact rooms - although the main bedroom is generous it’s so we can put loads of storage in. The original plan had a balcony which we’ve kept as it gives a covered area downstairs and there should be nice views out to the south west. The main concern for us is the windows/light coming in. We want it to feel light but not overheat. Any advice? Also the main bedroom with the wardrobes area between bed and bathroom I think could be better planned. Any thoughts? The two bedrooms with the views will be the offices and have sofa beds if we have people to stay. We like the open landing area at the top of the stairs. I like houses that have little nooks in them. The house will be built where the red line is, moving away from the boundary because of mature trees and root protection areas. It should create a shady garden behind. The other red box is planned as a garden room. We’re working with a timber frame company to erect it and then we’ll take over. Previous experience is stripping back a double garage to its timber frame and converting it into a one bed annexe. We’re now trying to find companies for services, ground works and foundations - I assume we need a SE to do the foundation design but ground works and foundations are all new so I’ll be heading to that forum topic next! Any recommendations for foundation teams near Ashford Kent would also be great. .

Hi everyone. Introducing our build. It’s a Dutch barn with full planning permission for a 6bed barn in the middle of Kent. We’ve just gone back to planners to do a demolition and build a 3-4bed barn. we want to make it a sustainable and forever home which we can afford to build with the same shape of the barn - the barrel roof is bringing challenges already! Had to get a tree report due to a few lovely big oak trees which we need to protect, so just waiting on that. It’ll have MHVR ASHP and be insulated to as high a spec as we can. We’ll be getting a contractor for the foundations and ground works and the timber frame company to erect it and fit windows/doors, then aiming to do the rest ourselves. It’s 100m up a track in a lovely location - but services quotes haven’t been much fun to read because of that. Looking forward to learning from you all…