A Green House in the Garden - 15/12/2008
In the early 1990's with the biggest mortgage they could obtain and very little money to spare, Paul and Roxanne Willard bought a large run down family house in need of total refurbishment near the city centre of Chichester. Paul recalls the first night in their new home, ";I remember lying in bed wide awake in the middle of the night, basking in the sodium glow from the street light outside, we had no curtains and the windows rattled at the slightest breeze, I remember thinking, oh my god what have we done?
We've moved from a modern comfortable home into an old, damp, draughty house with dodgy electrics and the noisiest heating system I'd ever heard and we're up to our necks in debt for the privilege!!"
It took them several years of planning and hard work to complete the modernisation and extensions to the house. Once completed by 2000, they turned their attention to the garden.
The house is very near to the City centre and had unusually large grounds of about half an acre. ";We'd realised at an early stage that we weren't really ‘gardeners', with two young kids a business to run and the house to refurbish.
There simply wasn't the time to do anymore than cut the grass and randomly hack back any over ambitious shrubs, although we did keep chickens for a while, which was fun and they kept the grass down!"
They'd been approached by developers from time to time and knew there was the potential for further building development in the garden. They first obtained outline planning consent and then spent some time considering what type of house they wanted. ";The available space was enough for a medium sized family house but not enough for a ‘grand design'.
We looked at pre-fabricated timber houses and felt that anything too contemporary just wouldn't have fitted in. I suppose we're bricks and mortar type people at heart, so we decided to build the house using traditional construction methods and craftsmanship, but with modern technology and the most energy efficient components."
Once that decision had been made (which only took a mere four years!) they approached Roxanne's brother, Clint Clements of Chichester Construction, who came on board to design and build the house. A meeting was also arranged with Richard Sabin who runs his own business in Chichester called Green Light Construction.
“We only needed one meeting with Richard; he was really helpful with extensive practical knowledge on how we could make our new house environmentally friendly and energy efficient. We wanted a practical house with low running costs".
In September 2006, the initial foundations were laid. ";It was an important time for us. The idea had been germinating for about 5 years and we were anxious to see how the new house was going to look and more importantly, how it was going to sit in the garden next to the existing house".
Paul and Roxanne were looking to make the finished house as energy-efficient as possible. Many of the materials had to be sourced from specialist suppliers instead of the regular builder's merchants, which was extremely time consuming.
The walls were significantly thicker to accommodate an increased level of insulation, which ended up being 50 percent thicker than required by current building regulations.
With the flint on the front elevation of the house, the walls are over 18 inches thick!
Wherever possible, they used local tradesmen and suppliers.
“A West Sussex company insulated the roof space for us using an amazing product, which is sprayed into every nook and cranny. Recycled plastic end caps were used to draft proof the joist ends and we purposely chose reclaimed clay tiles for the roof and first floor elevations. They were more expensive than new tiles, but the overall look that they have given the house makes them worth it."
The windows were provided by Engels, a company whose UK offices are situated just outside Chichester. ";This was one part of the build that did take a long time to conclude. We definitely wanted wooden frames, as they are environmentally friendly and have greater insulation qualities. Our only concern was all the repainting that would eventually be involved. We looked at loads of window manufacturers all over the country (and beyond), we obtained several quotes from different suppliers but ended up back where we'd started, at Engels! Our bespoke windows are factory painted, which is guaranteed for ten years – a real bonus. It's true, they took a little longer than expected, as they had to be manufactured for us at Engels' factory in Belgium, but they were definitely worth the wait."
Externally, both Roxanne and Paul had decided right from the start that the house should not look too new and with this in mind, Heritage style bricks and hand-laid, hand-pointed Sussex flints were chosen to make the house blend in perfectly within its surroundings.
Internally, the house is also a revelation. Whichever room you step into, whether stone, wooden or carpeted, each floor has the luxury of a fantastic energy efficient under-floor heating system. Likewise, any internal walls and floor voids are stuffed full of thermal and acoustic insulation, which has the benefit of providing good sound insulation – particularly appealing if you have teenage children and an integrated sound system!
The hot water system is fed by solar panels with a small energy efficient gas boiler and a log burning stove for back up ";We did look at installing a ground source heat pump, but having minimised the heat losses with additional insulation and special glass in the windows, it was calculated that it would actually be more energy efficient and cost effective to install a condensing gas boiler". Provision has been made to add a heat pump at a later date, should traditional energy costs dictate.
Paul is also considering the installation of a diesel generator run by bio fuel or even chip-fat oil! ";It would be fitted within a sound-proofed enclosure at the end of the garden. We've wired the house to accommodate an external supply of electricity from either a generator or photovoltaic solar panels etc." They have also installed a ‘rainwater harvesting system'. Water collected in the guttering from the roof, which traditionally flows into a soak-away, now flows through the down pipes and into a network of buried pipes where it is then filtered and stored within a huge underground collection tank. It's then ready to be re-used for the washing machine, flushing the toilet and watering the garden. As Roxanne says, ";The new house has a water meter, which makes recycling the rainwater such a fantastic idea. It rained heavil just after the tank was installed and the system was ready for action with ‘a free water supply' within days of installation."
The entire property is supplied with fresh, ambient air by means of a ‘whole house ventilation and heat recovery system', which provides a constant distribution of fresh air at an even temperature. Even the vacuuming is dust free. After watching a life style program on TV a decision was made to include an integral vacuum system into the design of the house. Roxanne is delighted with the results as there are now several vacuum points on each floor into which can be plugged a simple hose attachment. There is no loss of suction and the house dust simply gets collected into one place for easy, convenient disposal.
Although both practical and environmentally efficient, there is also a more frivolous side to their home. The whole house has a voice and data system fed from a central server, providing a secure multi function network and integrated audio system in every room.
The lighting system incorporates stunning mood lighting with energy saving features and was installed, in Paul's own words, ";to a very high standard by local electrician, Glynn Thomas; just one more superb craftsman that Roxanne and I have had the pleasure to work with during every aspect of this build. Clint knows the construction industry well and only employs craftsmen of the highest calibre, which is evident in every piece of this house".
So, would they recommend anyone else taking on such a huge project? ";Definitely! Overall it's been great fun. We have predictably gone a little over our original budget, not on the main build itself, but rather on our own personal choices of fittings and accessories. Luckily Clint was extremely tolerant with us, as we chopped and changed our minds. You know, a light switch here; a kitchen over there! Everything we asked for was always accommodated with a smile and helpful suggestions, no doubt encouraged by one of Roxanne's many cups of tea! We've actually estimated that, over the construction period, Roxanne must have made more than 1200 cups of tea for all the workmen on site!"
Is there any advice that they would give to others wanting to design and build their own green house?
“Just go for it, but calculate a realistic budget and do plenty of research before you start; there are so many excellent environmentally friendly and energy efficient products on the market, it's really important to decide which ones will be practical and cost effective for your project. Everyone advised us to employ a quantity surveyor to manage the project, but we were lucky that we could go straight to an experienced builder we knew and trusted.
We simply worked on an ‘open book' basis, which worked really well for us. Everyone on site was enthusiastic, happy and keen to do their best, which has provided us with a beautifully constructed new home. It really is essential to be involved with every step of the project on a daily basis; we always tried to be at least one step ahead of the programme of works, anticipating decisions before the questions arose. For us, this proved to be the key to a successful stress free build."
Publish in Selfbuilder & Homemaker