November Practice News

In this month’s update we have put together some frequently asked questions to help explain the SIPs build system following the onsite success at our Courtyard House project, we are celebrating our shortlist in the Build It Awards, and have an update from The Granary.

To keep in touch with our news, you can sign up to the practice updates here. 

FAQs about SIPs

We often get asked questions from our clients about SIP’s as a potential method for building. To help you get a better idea about the benefits of this system, we have answered a few of the most frequently asked questions; including what are the benefits, what are the disadvantages, and is the system cheaper to build with.

Read the full article here. 

Award Success

Our Brockenhurst House has been shortlisted in this year’s Build It Awards, in the ‘Best Architect or Designer for a Conservation or Renovation Project’. The annual industry awards that celebrate the most inspiring architectural projects and inventive products in the self-build sector, judged by industry leaders.

Brockenhurst House exemplifies how thoughtful, design-led architecture can elevate everyday living. What began as a tired 1970s chalet-style property has been transformed into a refined, low-carbon contemporary home, designed to support its owners’ evolving needs while treading lightly on the planet.

Full project details can be found here. 

The Granary update

It was great to see such positive progress on site at The Granary, our heritage project in the New Forest National Park set within the curtilage of a listed building.

The project has thoughtfully designed a scheme which converts and infills an existing open carport space on the ground floor aspect of the building, providing an additional bedroom on the first floor and extending the living accommodation on the ground floor.

The project is so close to completion, we cannot wait to share some professional photos with you soon. You can find full project details here. 

Progress at The Granary

It was great to see such positive progress at The Granary, our heritage project in the New Forest National Park. The project is so close to completion, we cannot wait to share some professional photos with you soon.

The project has thoughtfully designed a scheme which converts and infills an existing open carport space on the ground floor aspect of the building, providing an additional bedroom on the first floor and extending the living accommodation on the ground floor.

Although The Granary is not a listed building independently, it sits within a curtilage of a listed building, and is of heritage interest due to it being well-preserved example of common agricultural architecture from the period. Due to this this unique heritage of the building, we approached the design sensitively, in order to retain the character of the ancillary buildings, both in terms of individual value and the setting of the listed building.

Recency Villa Site Update

This month has seen the construction start in earnest on our Regency Villa project, located in central Southampton, Hampshire. At this early stage, the focus is on carefully stripping back the modern alterations; carefully removing incongruous additions, taking internal stud partitions out, and clearing out the poorly built extension, to reveal the bones of the original period property.

This four-storey listed townhouse, originally built circa 1835, has lost much of its former grandeur over the years, something we are aiming to restore through this deep renovation and reimagining. Most recently, the property had been converted into a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), which obscured much of the original character and has compromised the proportions of its rooms.

We’re thoroughly enjoying site visits at this point in the project. It’s exciting to see what the talented team at Tuakana is uncovering, such as original floorboards that had been covered over, and concealed, fireplaces. With the modern partitions removed, we can now fully appreciate the true dimensions of each room. Standing in these newly opened spaces and witnessing the natural light interact with the architecture is genuinely inspiring.

Our design vision is to return the house to a single-family dwelling, one that celebrates its period features while introducing a contemporary glass extension to the rear. The result will be a comfortable, elegant home that brings together the history of the home with the comforts of modern living.

Get in touch if you have a project you would like to discuss with the design team.

The Granary starts onsite

We are so pleased to see construction work has started at The Granary, a unique 18th century agricultural building in the New Forest National Park, Hampshire. Our design thoughtfully converts and infills an existing open carport space, to reimagine the ground floor with extended living area.

This allow the first floor to be converted into the private part of the home; by moving all the living area to the ground floor it was then possible to create an additional third bedroom / work space on the first floor, ensuring the long-term future of the building for the young owners.

If you are thinking about reconfiguring your home, get in touch to start the conversation.

How we secured planning for The Granary

Last month we finally secured planning for the plans to amend The Granary in the New Forest, we often find planning isn’t difficult to secure for our clients however this project was a little harder to achieve due to its setting within listed building curtilage (it is a heritage asset not listed building status itself). We felt it might be an interesting tale to share, to show the importance design, perseverance and communications can have on a project.

From the onset we knew it might be a tricky scheme to get over the line, as pervious planning applications had stated that the retention of the open bays on the ground level were essential as an intrinsic aspect to the character of the building. However, from investigating the project, working with planning specialists and talking to the local neighbours and council members, we felt we might be able to design something that everyone could agree on.

The property itself does not have an individual listed status, but the building is set within the curtilage of a grade II listed farmhouse and barn, which had to be taken into consideration when preparing the design within the sensitive site. You can read more about working on listed and heritage buildings here.

Our careful design introduced glazing to create an infill to two of the open bay sections, to create a larger living and kitchen space on the ground floor and allowing for an additional bedroom to be created on the first floor. The glazing highlighted the change as a modern addition, preserving the character and appearance of the original scheme.

The initial planning permission refusal was going to be refused, based on the conservation officers concern over the impact this work would have on the character and appearance of the property. We reviewed the comments and refined our design, removing aspects like a Juliette balcony on the first floor and changing the roof light on the side extension to be flush to reduce its visual impact.

Unfortunately, this modified design proposal was still going to be refused, so we took it to a committee where members of the Council took their vote and the permission was granted having won by majority. Taking this route was not an option we take lightly, as we respect the planning department especially in terms of preserving our architectural heritage, but we felt this design had carefully worked with the existing building and would not be detrimental to the heritage of the building. The changes would also allow the owners to stay in the home they loved, rather than out growing the two-bedroom property and having to move.

Alongside working this design work, we also worked to speak to the local council, local authority and neighbours to garner their thoughts and approval of the scheme. The neighbours were actively supportive of the scheme throughout the process, some even spoke at the committee meeting in favour of the plans. This pro-active dialogue with authorities was vital at the planning post-submission stage, to show the sympathetic design was essential for the owners and was approved by those local to the site.

Get in touch if you have a heritage or listed project you might need help achieving planning on.

Listed building planning success

We are delighted to announce we have secured planning permission to sympathetically refurbish and extend a Grade II listed Regency villa in central Southampton.

The design will extensively renovate the existing building, to deliver a scheme that enhances the rich, historic personality of the original dwelling and upgrade the energy efficiency of the property. A contemporary extension, replacing the current, poorly constructed extension, will create a largely glazed structure to transform the rear of the property with a spacious kitchen running across the whole elevation of the home. The work will breathe new life into the property, to create a functional, joyful home for the owners and their young family.

You can read more details about the project here; we have also written an article about working on listed and heritage building which you might find interesting which you can find here.