SIPs built Courtyard House progress

The construction of Courtyard House has come on impressively since we were last onsite to visit. In the past three weeks the house build has progressed from just the finished concrete slab, to now having all the external and internal walls in place, and with most of the roof installed.

The house is being built using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) a high performing composite building system which can be used as an alternative to traditional building methods. One of the key benefits of using this system is the speed of construction onsite, as they are made offsite to exact measurements, which means the time needed onsite is vastly reduced, on average down by 55% from traditional construction methods.

You can really start to see our initial concept designs starting to take shape on site, check out the comparision photos and you can find more project details here. 

Groundbreaking on Courtyard House

This month we are celebrating the groundbreaking at the Courtyard House; a new build contemporary home located in Burley, at the heart of the New Forest National Park.

The design of the replacement dwelling offers a greatly improved spatial plan for the tight, elongated site. The scheme enhances the site constraints, by organising the internal spaces around two cut-outs made in the form of courtyards, breaking up the linear nature of the single storey home.

Due to issues around retrofitting the previous property, as it was so poorly constructed and not at all energy efficient, it was decided that it was better way forward to replace the building rather than renovating.

More project details can be found here.

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.

April Practice Update

With the start of the second quarter we wanted to take an opportunity to briefly share a practice update some of our project news,  thoughts and advice.

Regency Villa Starts Onsite

Work has started on the Regency Villa, a Grade II Listed townhouse in central Southampton. Our design will sympathetically refurbish,extend and reimagine this beautiful period property, to create a wonderful family home.

The four-storey listed townhouse had previously been subdivided into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO), our project strips back the modern and out of place additions, to restore the home back into a a stunning single dwelling.

The design will deliver a scheme that enhances the rich, historic personality of the original dwelling, upgrading the energy efficiency of the property, to create a functional and joyful home for the owners and their young family.

You can find full project details here.

How to Start a Self-Build Project.

If you are thinking of starting a self-build project, we understand that it can often feel daunting.

The team here at Studio BAD have over 50 years’ collective architectural experience, designing self-build houses and extensions. We are perfectly placed to help you understand the process and have recently answered some key FAQ’s on this topic to help you get your project started.

You can read the full article here.

Planning secured in National Park

We are thrilled to have secured planning for The Granary, a beautiful heritage building set within the New Forest National Park, and also located within listed building curtilage.

The interesting scheme converts and infills an existing open carport space. Our design has places an emphasis on celebrating the original character of the building, highlighted through contemporary interventions.

You can find full project details here.

 

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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.

Contemporary extensions within a conservation area

Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine asked Darren to share his expert opinion to answer a key question they had been asked by many of their readers; can you have a contemporary extension to my house within a conservation area? You can find the article appeared in the December edition of the magazine, or read it here.

Generally speaking, yes you can. Having a home located in a conservation area does not mean you have to be stuck in the past with the architecture of any additions to the scheme but you do have to be mindful of the design, with what you are trying to achieve and your material choices.

Each conservation area is different, and it is always worth working with an architectural practice who have a proven track record in your specific conservation area. When we recently extended and sustainably upgraded an existing home (Cedarwood) which was set within a conservation area within the South Downs National Park, we were able extend the ground floor and add a striking, contemporary loft extension to the original Colt timber framed house.

We found that working in collaboration with a planning consultant and the local planning department meant we were able to have an open and constructive dialogue from the start of the design process, on this project we found the planning officers were keen for the extension to have a distinctly different architectural language from the original. A key concern for this property was the potential overlooking issues  with the loft extension, our solution was to set the dormers at an unusual angle, creating a striking design which successfully has minimised the concerns.

When looking to extend your project within a conservation area we would suggest looking at commissioning a heritage statement / document, that addresses the scheme and working closely with the conservation officer from the onset, and working with an architect with a track record of working within your specific conservation area.

If you have any further questions or have a project you would like to discuss, do get in touch with the team today.