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 existing single storey bungalow with shallow pitched roof was to be replaced with a new predominantly two storey home. To the rear, the open plan kitchen dining family room areas sit half a level up from the ground floor to take advantage of the natural levels across the site.

Designed to be built using a well-insulated and lightweight timber frame the overhanging roofs to the south and west elevations provide natural passive solar controls. Whole House Mechanical Ventilation coupled with ground source heat pumps ensured that the scheme surpassed the requirements of Building Regulations for energy efficiency. Detailed 3D modelling and assessments of the roof overhangs were carried out with annual sun-hour calculations to the large areas of glazing checked using the geosynchronised 3D model.

The flat roof design ensured that the overall height of the new building was only 0.5m higher than the ridge line of the existing house and the L-shaped plan allowed the frontage of the existing buildings to be reduced from 25m to 17m for the replacement building; all of which ensured that the planners agreed that the proposals would not appear more intrusive in the AONB landscape.

The flat roofs are covered with Badum’s XF301 lightweight sedum roofing blanket to increase biodiversity on the site and compensate for the larger footprint of the new building. External lighting is kept below the roof and first floor overhangs or are cowelled to ensure downlight cast light only as the site sits within a Dark Skies protected area; the use of warm white 3,000k LED lights providing no more than 7.6 lux meets the requirements of the Bat Conservation Trust’s guidance on external lighting.

For more examples of our designs for contemporary new homes 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.

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.

It replaces an brick and pitched roof cottage on the site with a modern, open plan, light filled scheme that maximises out to the gardens to the south. Slim brieze soliel over the south / west facing windows have been added to introduce passive solar control to reduce overheating in summer while allowing low winter sun to enter deep in to the building. Different depths of project were modelled and tested to calculate the number of hours of direct sunlight falling on the glass using the geo-synchronised 3D model and software designed to calculate annual sunlight levels.

Designed to be constructed as a timberframe building to minimise site deliveries, provide cost-effective construction with reduced build-times the flat roof is covered with sedum ‘green’ matting to improve the bio-diversity of the site.

Planning permission is to be submitted to Waverley Borough Council in late Spring 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.

“Having recently completed our self build,  I have to express my thanks to Leigh of BWP Architects for his input throughout the whole process.

Leigh was not our initial architect, we contacted Leigh once we had decided on a contemporary style property having noted his track record of beautiful homes. Leigh made the whole planning and design process painless, he made everything easy to understand, our expectations were set realistically unlike former contacts and the end result was an outstanding home, which we built on budget and on time, as such I couldn’t have asked for much more.

Peter Worthy – Client, Botany Wood”

Sited within the Greenbelt on the outskirts of Farnham, Surrey this project for a new two storey detached home to replace an existing bungalow needed to overcome Waverley Borough Council’s strict policy RD2A limiting the size of replacement dwellings to just 10% larger than the existing house.

Maximising the potential for extending the existing house under Policy RD2 by 40% over the original property helped secure this scheme.

Construction started in autumn 2016 and the house was fully complete in less than 9 months.

Designed and built using Passivhaus construction principals of controlling air-tightness, limiting thermal bridging and plenty of insulation to drive down energy usage the choice of using MBC Timberframe was a natural one. We have successful worked with MBC on a number of projects now and their ability to guarantee air-tightness levels down at 0.6 air changes per house and insulation levels below 0.1 offers huge benefits. Their ‘passivslab’ raft foundation system avoids the thermal bridging issues where the ground floor meets the external walls.

Externally, the finish will be Norstone Ochre cladding, Dryvit self-colured acrylic render and

timber (heat treated to prevent warping). The interface of these materials with the timber frame solution required careful detailing and our knowledge of the MBS system played a key part in completing the work. Below is an example of one of the 3D details needed to fully explain for the contractors how the external wall fabric goes together.

For more Contemporary New Homes follow this link here.

Many thanks to Matt Chisnall for his photography work as usual.

A ribbon of glazing runs the entire perimeter of the building at eaves levels giving the appearance of a shallow floating roof projecting beyond the external walls to provide shelter and passive solar control of excessive summer gains. Internally, the structure supports the roof with a concealed ring of flitch beams at the eaves supporting steel fins.

Due to the topography of the site, the garden elevations appear to sit on a deep stone plinth or base further enhancing the pavilion aesthetic. At night, the glazed ribbon comes alive as light projects out and is reflected off the soffit of the overhanging roof. All white interiors, white windows and self-coloured white external render complete the minimalist look. The shallow pitched standing seam zinc roof behind is hidden from views due the site levels and the projecting eaves to give the appearance of a simple thin slab roof.

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.

Replacing an existing chalet bungalow with a full two storey house while still satisfying the planners was always going to be a challenge and several different design options were explored for the roof form.

The final approved scheme, due for completion on site in Spring 2018, included a shallow monopitch roof to create full height first floor spaces while maintaining a lower eaves to the north front elevation.

The main timberframe and foundations were build by MBC Timberframe who specialise in Passivhaus buildings. They completed the insulated raft foundation 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.

A standing seam zinc roof with pre-weathered ash Thermowood cladding over a self-coloured acrylic white render with light grey aluminium windows complete the palette of materials.