We were appointed by the client to redesign a previous house on the site that did not meet their size or architectural requirements. The overall site was part of a larger property that was to be demolished to make way for this new home on half the site with the other half sold off to developers to pay for the construction of their own home.

The heavy stucco porch with rusticated shallow arch contrasts with the softer stock brickwork of the main elevations complete with brick pilasters with stone capitals and stone surrounds to feature windows.

Planning Permission was granted in 2020 following an appeal for this new 4,650sqft (432sqm) home designed to reflect the vernacular architecture of the nearby homes. The house sits behind a dense screen of Tree Preservation Order protected planting and includes steep roofs, gable ends, timber lintels, roughcast render, clay tiles roofs and tall, decorative chimney stack. Stepped quoins to the front gable elevation, brick slip details in the apex of the gable roofs, black window cills, black painted timber bracketed window hoods and black fascias against white soffits all add to the high quality attention to detail coupled with the carefully thought through proportions to the elevations and room sizes.

The house is highly energy efficient with an EPC Rating of A (93) acheived by the use of a well-insulated timber frame, air-source heat pump, underfloor heating, whole house mechanical ventilation incorporating heat recovery and solar panels with a battery back-up system and immersion heater booster for when the batteries are full. The house also includes a 22kW fast electric car charger to take full advantage of the solar panels.

The property has a traditional yet contemporary feel, designed and built to offer classically proportioned
rooms, with a layout perfectly designed for modern family living with neutral crisp interiors. The house is laid out around a spacious double height entrance hall and galleried staircase. Contemporary dark stained oak floors throughout the ground floor are laid over undefloor heating. The dual-aspect formal drawing room, with a central elegant fireplace, sits at the front of the house with a home office to the othersdie of the entrance hall. A large open-plan family living space, dining room and kitchen sit behind the entrance hall and lead through two sets of double doors open to the garden and a second pair of double doors open to a dual-aspect family room.

The kitchen is fitted with bespoke handmade and painted elegant white shaker style cabinetry designed by Charles Yorke and quartz marble worktops and features a large island with breakfast bar seating, which is a perfect spot for a morning coffee, every day dining or for entertaining guests with whilst cooking.

The first and second floor accommodates six bedrooms with the principal bedroom featuring a dressing area and ensuite bathroom.

For examples of other traditional style new homes we have designed please click here.

The first of several new homes to be completed on a large site on the edge of Farnham in Surrey, this new timber frame home scores a high A rating (94) on the EPC due to the use of additional insulation, air source heat pumps, over 3Kw of photovoltaic solar panels coupled with a 6Kwh battery storage and whole house mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

The wrap-around verhanda to the south and west elevations provides a simple and traditional solution that ensures that overheating due to solar gains in summer months is eliminated as it protects the large french doors and windows to the ground floor living spaces. The verhanda also provides a covered porch area to the front entrance and a sheltered area to the garden terrace.

Soft coloured Dove Grey painted timber cladding blends with the natural slate roofing with lead hip and ridge rolls but is accented by the white framing to the windows, corner posts, verhanda supports and gable fascias.

Internally, the ground floor includes a large open plan kitchen, dining and family space, a seperate reception room, study and a ground floor bedroom with ensuite facilities.

The first floor includes four generous double bedrooms, two further ensuites and a large family bathroom.

Click here to see more of our timber frame homes.

Timberframe by Merronbrook.

Bespoke hand made kitchen from Charles Yorke Kitchens.

Aim:

The existing house had been an earlier conversion of a kiln building which had a number of ad-hoc and poorly built extensions over time. The result was a series of damp, cold, low ceilinged and badly lit spaces that had been crammed together with no flow between the rooms and no logic to the layout. The project took over three years from start of the design process to the completion on site and involved the demolition and replacement of the majority of the existing extensions including an old detached garage to the rear accessed through a low opening in the existing building.

Additional images can be seen in the Project Brochure which can be downloaded here.

Thanks to Matt Chisnall Architectural Photography for the photography work.

Scope:

BWP Architects were involved in this project from the original inception through to handover and our work included the design of much of the interior work and gardens as well and the building itself and working with the clients on the design and selection of individual pieces of furniture, kitchen and bathroom design, bespoke metalwork, fountains, garden features and interior finishes.

Kiln Building:

A key element to the design was the complete stripping out of the three-storey interior to the kiln building and removal of the roof to be replaced with a new pyramid structure and the construction of new attached curved stair tower to the rear. This allowed a single new floor to be inserted in the old kiln building in place of two previous floors to give high ceilings and create usable spaces.

The stone spiral staircase is built using solid stone treads from the same quarry as the stone tiling to the ground floor. The new pyramid roof over the former kiln building includes a traditional working cowl which is visible internally from a glazed opening above one of the bedrooms.

Rear Extensions:

Behind the original front buildings a series of existing rear extensions were replaced with a single 3m wide glazed corridor to link the main living spaces along the front of the original building ending in a large gable end glazed elevation giving views to the countryside and hills beyond. This main body of the house also received a complete new replacement roof allowing high vaulted ceilings with stainless steel ties and oak purlins to be incorporated.

The 1970s built duo-pitched roof extension further to the rear had the main structure retained but the roof removed and replaced with a gull-wing roof. The allowed 3m high French windows to the Master suite to maximise the views and the cantilevered zinc roof and traditional dark stained timber clad wing walls provide privacy and passive solar shading.

Garaging:

The detached garage to the rear was partially demolished and, with the infilling of the former access through the building, created a private formal rear courtyard. A new curved replacement garage was constructed below the front garden, accessed via a curving ramped driveway with turntable in front of the curved, automated timber doors. Bronze coloured bespoke balustrading adds a dramatic and artistic feature to the access stair and upper courtyard over the garage, reflecting different light and colours as they follow the curve of the garage walls.

Gardens:

The gardens and rear courtyard were redesigned to relate to the new works and completed with a new glazed pavilion style garden room complete with reflecting pool. The three-sided glass pavilion is completed with a cantilevered zinc roof to compliment the rear of the house.

Summary:

The final project is, we feel, a huge success and blends both the traditional original building with the new contemporary style works acting as the perfect backdrop to the clients’ extensive collection of modern and antique furniture and works of art.

All successful projects require commitment and trust from the client and we have been delighted to be involved in this and to help them realise the full potential of the property and gardens.

For other BWP Architects remodelling projects please click here.

A Lawful Development Certificate was then sought to demonstrate realistic fall-back positions to extend the existing building before a fresh planning application was prepared and submitted for the new replacement homes.

Each home has approximately 125sqm of floor space including three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open plan kitchen / diner with two further reception room spaces and a utility room. Careful design planning from the outset ensured efficient and maximum use of the rooms to the first floor. Generous driveways and landscaped gardens wrap the pair of detached homes with large areas laid to lawn.

To design and construct a larger replacement home for a chalet style building which combined traditional building materials and detailing with a contemporary aesthetic.

Please click here to download the project brochure.

Summary:

The existing hip roofed chalet bungalow was raised above the surrounding site by approximately 0.9m. By lowering the new house this allowed the eaves to be raised accordingly in relation to the ground and first floors, minimising raked first floor ceilings. By using traditional gable roof forms raked ceilings were further reduced and kept to only the outside walls.

The large footprint with deep plan minimised external walls again and allowed the creation of the large rooms requested by the client. The Entrance Hall benefits from the tall glazed screen with oversized door (measuring almost 2.3m tall by 1.3m wide) and a 4sqm rooflight drops daylight into the heart of the building over the curving staircase.

External walls built of solid Horsham stone with real stone sills and headers are complimented by fire-blackened larch cladding boards, black painted soffits and fascias and natural slate roofing.

Large windows and sliding doors facing south and west open on the rear gardens, terraces and swimming pool with a contemporary, flat roofed, single storey rear with two vertical panels of matching stone along a fully glazed wall and return panels.

To the first floor, the two main bedrooms take advantage of the steeply pitched roof with vaulted ceilings and glazing following the roof line.  Dormer window detailing is kept simple and modest with flat lead roofs.

To see more examples of Traditional designs by BWP Architects please click here.

Photographs (c) Matt Chisnall Architectural Photography

The footprint is similar to the existing bungalow, which had previous permission for a couple of former windows to the roof. The site is elevated above the road and benefits from wide views over the countryside to the south, looking over the top of buildings further down the slope.

The narrow access road and limited space on site, coupled with the clients’ desire to create an energy efficient and cost effective building, meant a timber frame solution was the natural choice.

The traditional design features two simple rectangular plans, intersecting and slide over each other. These are roofed with traditional forms of steep pitched gable ended roofs. The majority of the building is to be timber clad with the main entrance elevation having a stone facing, echoed partially on the rear elevation, helps reinforce the two different plan elements. Likewise, the roofs are a combination of both natural slate and standing seam zinc to differentiate between the two forms.

Works are expected to start on site in early autumn 2020.

For examples of some of our other timber frame homes please click here.

An application was submitted to extend the original dwelling using Permitted Development Rights, i.e. without the need for further planning permission, by adding a large side extension, two separate rear extensions and alterations to increase the roof space. The resulting extant approvals would have allowed the house to be increased to over 413sq.m footprint and a width of nearly 30m.

The proposed replacement dwelling was smaller than the extant permissions in terms of footprint, gross external area, volume, width and depth and as such created “very special circumstances” which allowed the planning officer to accept this increase over the existing house.

The proposed new dwelling has been designed on the Principals of Vastu, an ancient Indian architectural proportioning and well-being system while maintaining a traditional rural architecture including steep gabled roofs, timber cladding and a veranda surround the property on all four sides.

A 9×9 grid, a completely square footprint based on proportional measurements, a large two-storey central atrium with clear lines of sight through critical parts of the building, coupled with rules defining everything from chakra points, stair positions, toilet orientation, bed directions, percentages of window to wall opening (different on different parts of the building), incoming services positions etc etc have meant careful planning and a host of decisions which have resulted in a clear floor plan.

The position of the house on the site is of equal importance in considering the Principals of Vastu. The house is orientated true north-south, has to avoid water points within certain site lines, has a Vastu ‘fence’ perimeter set at a distance reflecting the proportioning system of the house, and with clear views through certain axis of the landscaping.

Sited close to the banks of Chichester Harbour on a gently sloping site the rear of the building is lifted above the external ground levels by around 750mm and forms a decked verandah complete with timber posts supporting the oversailing skirt roof around the whole of the ground floor. The projecting eaves offer protection against excessive solar gain through the southern and western glazing in summer while also providing shelter against the prevailing winds and rain.

The skirt roof, together with the low pitched main roof, helps the building hug the site and the weathered timber cladding and shingles will allow the building to blend with the heavily tree lined site perimeter.

The main foundations and timber frame were constructed by MBC Timberframe who specialise in Passivhaus buildings. They completed the insulated piled foundation and slab which laps with the external wall insulation within their twin-wall with minimal thermal bridging. U-Values down at 0.12 and with guaranteed air-permeability rates below 0.6 air changes per hour help drive energy costs down.

We were approached by the client after their previous architects had secured the conversion of an existing former pig barn in to a new house. It was at this point the client engaged us to look at an alternative scheme to replace the pig barn with a bespoke home drawing on the traditions of brick Victorian warehouses. The images below are taken form the planning application that was submitted to Guildford Borough Council in October 2017.

Featuring tall ceilings, brick and terracotta detailing, symmetrical elevations, Crittall style windows and a zinc roof the house is designed as a pair of buildings linked at first floor with a contemporary render and glass bridge. Nestled in to the rear of the site, the dark brick building is seen against the backdrop of the quarry walls with the main reception and living spaces orientated to the front elevation with extensive views across open countryside.

The application documents themselves are comprehensive and include bat surveys and mitigation works, arboricultural surveys and tree protection scheme, ecology surveys and enhancement works, and a comprehensive landscape assessments looking at wide and near views.

For other traditional designs please follow this link.