Indy

One further update that I forgot to add is that all the glazing on the sides - the advice from the architect is that it wouldn't be worth it. We're building pretty close to the boundary on either side (leaving just over 1m to be compliant with the regulations) and have buildings on either side. So the windows on the sides won't actually bring in much light. Still debating as to whether its worth it, but this seems like sound advice - focus on the front (east) and back (west) glazing and rooflights on top, rather than spend more on the side windows which won't add much in the way of light but will increase cost. Happy to hear opinions on this.

Thank you so much for this, eerily close to what we were going for and great to see a visual representation of a finished product. The only difference would have been the choice of external cladding where we're leaning towards bricks/brick slips rather than render/timber cladding.

A brief update following some very active conversation with my architect this week (who also has a link to this thread and has been through the comments and other sketches). 1. They very kindly drew up a number of different Georgian options for us to consider. Not that this hadn't been considered in the past but laying it on the plot and comparing ridge and eaves heights, its clear that the georgian facade wouldn't work. The Chartered Planning consultant that's part of their firm also provided her professional opinion that the design would be out of kilter with the neighbouring plots and that the planners would take a very strong view of the proposed height of our development - which goes from 1.5 storey to 2 storeys and a loft. The end result is that we've taken their professional view into consideration and decided that it's not going to work. 2. We are in the process of looking at alternative options to pretty up the front facade, which includes the increased glazing on the 1st floor windows, different fenestration options amongst other things. I hope to get updates from them by the end of this week. 3. I've asked them to reconsider the roof design and we're looking to incorporate some rooflights/velux windows to bring more light into the centre of the house and change the design of the front gables so that it allows us to take the glazing all the way to the roof. This will mean a revised roof design and adding considerable cost - so we're considering our options here - but this is something that can be tweaked at a later stage, after planning has been granted.

Spec wise, we're aiming for something similar. ASHP, MVHR, Wet UFH throughout, Wood/LVT floors throughout including first floor (need something hard wearing with kids and dogs), Lots of glazing, decent quality touchpoints like stairs, doors, switches etc. Cost wise - £110 psf seems unachievable for me as I can't really do any of the trades myself. I am planning to act as the PM and general handyman/labourer, and maybe the decorator towards the end. Plan to buy a good spray paint setup, coat the entire house in white and move in, and then decorate in other colours over time.

Agreed, Georgian covered in brick would be the winner for me and timeless to boot but it's about how it fits in with the surrounding houses and how the planners are going to view it. One of the partners within the architect's firm is a Chartered Planner and his advice has been that its possible to get what you want - IF you're prepared for a length fight and waiting for a few years to exhaust all the options. That's very much what I don't want and the options we chose were carefully selected to maximise the chances of winning approval in the 1st go!

Again, liking this quite a bit though the wife doesn't agree and thinks its too much glass at the front of the house (!) I've now gone back to the architects with both these images as a representation to see what we can do. Was very touch and go as we were on the verge of submitting on Friday with the Design and Access statement having been finalised, and the pack ready. This will probably mean a small delay/additional work and cost to get the frontage right but I am keen to get it right now rather than resolve later. Internal layout, we're fairly set on and I can't see it changing massively but will read through the comments to see what tweaks we want to make. Thank you for all the comments so far and please do keep them coming.

The alternative to having the snug where it is, would to swap it out with the study and give it views over the garden. The issue there would then become of how to create access to it without going via our bedroom (a corridor would mean giving up space internally) and another thing we've discovered during lockdown is that you need a study that's tucked away from the family to minimise background noise on calls.

Its not in the renders, but we did have a structure at the front on the left hand side in an earlier version of the floorplans. Plan was to have Parking bay 2 as an oak framed open carport attached to the bike storage structure. However, when we saw the 3D render - it was too imposing and completely blocked the views from the front study so we've given that up and retained a clean view from the street, to keep the light flooding in, at least in the mornings.

A little more visualisation of the current design - which adds a little depth. I do still really like it, especially the porch/front entrance bit with the double height glass. Decisions decisions...

I have to say I really love this one. Neo-Georgian is very much up my street and was one of the things we had asked for in the initial brief, but the way the design developed - I think its one of those things that got put to one side and never really revisited. I am reading all the comments in the thread with great interest and its hard to ignore the logic. I shall go back to the architect and see what we can do, even though it may mean a month's delay and added cost to their initial quote! Tempted to only change the facade and then leave the internal layout unchanged as a compromise though once the tinkering starts, will be hard to stop...

We have houses on either side, and our garden backs on to the garden of another property. Though overlooking in that direction isn't too much of a concern due to the length of our garden and theirs. The balcony design was somewhat dictated by those concerns. Architect's recommendation that we have a balcony within the structure rather than externally protruding one, as it has a greater chance of being approved. Something also to do with shading and SAP calculations (which I didn't completely understand at the time!) Ridge height is 7.8m IIRC. And while I appreciate your offer to help, I'm just keen to get the plans submitted now as we've been in the process for 7 months with the architects (formally).

Thanks, that's quite useful to know. Even discounting it to lets say £1.2k to £1.5k per sq metre would put approx £200k to £240k of additional cost on the build. As much as I would love a basement (man cave for myself and to create a bar/whisky storage room), its a luxury that will have to wait till either the next one or when I hit the Euromillions jackpot!

Reviving this old thread as I'm about to start my own research on the topic. On average - how much more would you estimate TF at over brick and block, for say a 100m house? 10%, 15% or more?

Plans for the gym/garden storage room at the back of the garden.

What would you suggest (genuine question)? Where would you add these? The only spaces I can see these would be worth adding is over the wardrobes or study towards the back of the house? There are already 2 small skylights over the bathrooms that bring in some light and the front bedrooms have their East facing windows (granted these won't bring in daylight in the evenings). See above, garden room being built at the same time as the house - the plans weren't uploaded earlier. This is the topic that took us over a month to resolve with the architects. Original plans were to place it at the front of the property, next to an oak structure car port and run the pipework back to the house. When we saw a 3D render of what that structure would look like, we immediately decided against it as the car port completely dominated the front and killed any views from the street. The next suggestion was to place it on the wall next to Bedroom 1 on the GF and run the pipework back to the utility, which I was Ok with but we were a few cm short of the 1m clearance required for the ASHP to function optimally. This is a compromise we've arrived at with the architect's suggestion that allows for the 1m clearance by building a small alcove and reduces the need for expensive insulated pipework to be run below ground from any other location.

Considered it yes, but it was really ruled out because of the cost implications. We do have a garden room being built at the back of the garden which will be split into gym and general storage/bike store areas. Will upload those plans separately. How much of a difference in build cost does a basement add? Online reports indicate about £4k per sq m versus £2.5k for ground floor building. At a 160 sq m for the ground floor layout, its not an inconsiderate amount to be added.

Without coming across as sarcastic, I really do appreciate your opinions and the designs that ETC did for me (thanked him earlier at the time as well), but the design we've ended up is one that works for us after several rounds of conversation. Were we too prescriptive in our brief - absolutely right we were. I had a spreadsheet that kept getting populated as we looked at over 200 houses before finding none that worked for us, and helped me refine what we were actually looking for (and more importantly, what we weren't looking for). The architect have done a good job of getting the design 'right' for a narrow but long plot and I fully intended to fill the plot out (as land is already very expensive, so why not use every available bit). The original design was a good 50-80 sq m bigger than this but we had to scale it back purely for budgetary reasons. The idea for this house move has evolved from move to a finished product, to a small project, to a double storey extension and finally towards a full demolish and rebuild. We're going to use this as a learning exercise so that when we do the next move which will be in 20ish years time and probably the 'forever/retirement' home - we can indulge all our fantasies and let the designers run wild a little more.

Do plan to use it, always wanted a real fire and this is the opportunity to get one. I fully realise it will probably be used for a total of 4-5 times a year.

Not quite rolling hills or open fields but a 120ft garden, which is going to be a huge change from where we are currently (Zone 3 London) with a postage stamp sized garden that backs on to 3 others! It is much quieter though, and we have greenbelt land at the front (which hopefully means no development overlooking ours). The other bits - all within 5 to 10m walking distance.

Thanks, hadn't really clocked that a ground survey would be required. We did have a topographic survey done though that was more for the architects' benefit in the end. Yeah, one of the things that led them to discourage from engaging on as full PM/build activities is that they're physically in another part of the country. Any visits on site from them would incur huge travel charges (either on the train or per mile), so not really a cost effective option. I do plan on getting a QS spreadsheet so that I have some idea of what to expect and can use that to talk to builders and not appear totally naive. So far, I have estimators online and plan to use the paid Travis Perkins option as well. Would be great if you could share yours so I can use as another reference point? Pretty much what I had in mind. The first company I spoke to (Dan-Wood) offered a complete turnkey service with very competitive prices and were zero VAT rated, which is what attracted me to them in the first place. After a few discussions, it became clear that we'd be tied into their system and architects and they weren't too keen on a bespoke design so I left it there. A single supplier that handles the slab and then getting the shell up sounds like a good idea, and like you said - they'll be zero rated for VAT. Will reach out to MBC and start my Google Fu! I assume you retain all the VAT invoices and they have to be in your name to do this, but then its all reclaimable once the BC certificate is issued at the end?

Thanks, that's good to know but the situation is quite different to us where I won't have the knowledge or skill to do this on my own. I plan to give most things a go and help out where I can, though do realise the extent of my abilities!

One big living/dining/kitchen space - a lot of debate has already happened within the family on this one, and we're happy with this arrangement. This is how we currently have our 1930s semi setup (albeit smaller) and we do enjoy all being in the same space. We do have the family snug on the 1st floor, which will double up as a cinema room in the future - so that's a private retreat space catered for. Utility entrance - getting it through the kitchen part would be nice though we lose the worktop space there, and we've already compromised on that by having an L shaped kitchen rather than U shaped one (which was the architect's recommendation). Chimney - good point and I can't believe I never picked up where on the 1st floor it would be reflected. I'm checking with the architect to see what the proposal is. I do really want a log burner in the house, for purely aesthetic reasons. Heating source is going to be an ASHP with wet UFH throughout.

Nothing as such for the architect, they're engaged only to provide the plans and drawings and have so far discouraged me from engaging them for PM activities. It's a small firm and I met one of the partners online through another forum, and he's been super helpful with a lot of 'free advice' so far, but its getting to the point where I need a constant sounding board and he's advised me that future enquiries may be charged for at their hourly rate (which is fair enough). Any recommendations on TF companies, or are they are all the same? Where, apart from checkatrade, mybuilder, houzz would I start looking? As for the final value - I'm estimating in the region of £1.8 to £2m, based on a value of £600/sq ft that I've seen in the area recently. At that level, it would just about break even for us as the plot wasn't cheap. The plan is not do up and sell, but live here for the next 20 odd years till the younger one (currently 1yr old) has shipped off to uni and then move afterwards as access to schools won't be a requirement anymore.

Material choices - outside will be brick with tiles on the roof. Not sure about fancy cladding but I do like the timeless look of brick houses. Windows, glazing wise - we're going to go for the best we can afford without being OTT. The big expense is going to be the 6m sliding doors on the GF, for which I want the slimmest profile doors to maximise views to the garden. The focus will be to get high quality materials for the fabric of the building - insulation, UFH, ASHP, MVHR and then do the internals slowly as the funds will allow. Ground conditions - don't know, but there is currently a bungalow that we'll demolish and relay the foundations so should be fairly straight forward. Access constraints - not a big issue. We're right next to a major 2 lane road with access via a dropped kerb, but a very slight incline up to get to get to our property. There's a few trees/small brick wall at the front currently - all of which will be cleared as part of the site cleanup and prep activities. Distance from boundary - at least 1m on all sides (on the planners recommendation), with the front being about 1.3m narrowing to 1m towards the rear of the house (as the plot isn't exactly a rectangle and narrows down).

Very useful info and I'll try and reply to the main points: 1. Its not a greenfield site. It currently has a 1950s bungalow (100sq m) on it that we wanted to refurbish but the architect recommended a demolish and rebuild approach due to size and scale of changes that we planned, and the VAT savings. 2. In terms of the 3 options that I outlined, there's only 1 really viable option a) find the gap in your £1M budget and keep your shoes clean. Can't do this as much as I'd like, and even the £2.5k figure is going to stretch us to breaking point as it is (with loans from family factored in). c) quit your project. Don't want to do it - it took us over a year to find this property and the location is perfect. Schools, transport, access to green spaces, community feel etc all work for us and more importantly - the garden is big enough AND facing the right way. b) exit your comfort zone and get involved in the build This is the path we'll end up taking but I'm trying to understand whether its worth it. Will my eagerness to help and gung ho attitude make up for total lack of experience? I've heard horror stories of being ripped off by builders, trades, suppliers as soon as they know you're a newbie to the industry. 3. Construction method wise, I'm not tied into any but Timber frame looked to be a suitable option due to the speed and the fact that you get a watertight shell built in weeks rather than months. I'll be taking the design to a few now and start the conversations, but one company I did speak to earlier (Dan-Wood) indicated that this was too bespoke of a design and they couldn't deliver it without major changes. Cost is going to be the primary driver and the architects are suggesting TF will end up being slightly more expensive than blocks and brick, with the advantage of speed. I will also look into ICF and speak to a few companies but any suggestions on either TF or ICF builders that work in the SE area would be greatly appreciated.