After spending several years trawling estate agents in their search for a suitable place to build a new home, Fraser and Anne Harding came across their ideal site quite unexpectedly.
"We were out walking, close to where we lived, in Newbury, Berkshire, and saw a plot that had just come on the market," says Fraser. "It was ideally situated on one side of a park, adjoining a conservation area and on a tree-lined private road. As soon as we got home we made an offer, which proved successful."
The house that stood on the site was a 1960s chalet bungalow that was built in such a way that renovating it wasn’t an option. "It was a probate sale – the house was totally run-down and had been lived in since the 1960s by a man who had reached his nineties," says Fraser. "From the start, the house we envisaged building was high-spec and eco-friendly and for several reasons, including the configuration of the old house, we couldn’t have achieved it without demolishing it."
Article continues belowProject details
- Location Newbury, Berkshire
- Project Self-build detached
- House size 247sq m
- Build route Project managed with separate subcontractors
- Build cost £680,000
- Architects OB Architecture
- Photographer Brett Charles Photography
Finding an architect
When it came to choosing an architect, to do justice to their vision of a new-build that was "striking and modern", the couple decided not to restrict themselves to the immediate locality, instead opting to draw up a list of candidates from a wider radius – all of whom they found on the RIBA website.
"After trimming it down to a shortlist of three, we met each architect on site, and of those, Grant Freeman at OB Architecture impressed us the most."
Anne takes up the story: "We had a good idea of the type of house we wanted and as a visual starting point, we gave Grant a few magazine photos of houses we liked," she says.
"The main must-have aspect, though, was the need for an eco-friendly home with high insulation standards. We liked the first set of drawings that came back, and particularly loved the shape and external look of the house. However, we did a little bit of changing around internally, such as altering the position of the main staircase and the windows."
Visual priorities
As a generous amount of natural light was deemed vital for the couple, windows were a main consideration. "One of our top requirements was to get a lot of light into our kitchen as our last one was quite dark, so abundant glazing played a big part in that," says Fraser.
Equally important was having great views, and Grant accommodated this by orienting the house to give a clear south-facing outlook. "As the house adjoins a conservation area, we made sure the part of the house visible from the park was a narrow aspect, so as not to be seen as a big ugly block," says Anne.
The mature trees that had appealed to the Hardings also had their drawbacks. "Fundamentally, one of the biggest challenges was the proximity and impact of the large lime and beech trees, which, without clever engineering and design, would have resulted in an orientation for the house away from the principal views from the site," says Grant.
"The trees’ roots, which were protected by tree preservation orders, take up a lot of the site, so it took some clever designing to make it work."
Foundation complications
Having protected trees nearby meant the foundations had to be approached differently. Helical pile foundations were driven below the main root activity, supporting loads on beams placed above ground level, thereby avoiding the need to cut through significant root zones and avoiding soil compaction.
"Because the ground is clay, the piles also had to go down exceptionally deep," says Grant. "All of which meant extra cost, but luckily we knew about this early on in the planning process. The use of piles also allowed flexibility around the roots – trial pits were made in each designated location so if a root was found, the pile could be moved."
Having started the build in August 2019, the project was inevitably impacted by Covid – a particularly expensive period being the 10 weeks when the site sat idle, during which time the fixed costs, such as scaffold hire, still had to be met. Materials that came from abroad, such as windows from Austria, were subject to long delays.
The weather wasn’t their greatest ally, either – during a particularly stormy period in the autumn the ground floor became flooded due to window voids not having been sealed. "All very inconvenient but nothing that we couldn’t cope with," says a stoic Fraser.
Mission accomplished
Five years on, the couple are now happily ensconced in a house that, according to Grant, "is very much nestled within the site, and positioned and oriented to work to its constraints and opportunities."
The Hardings say they are completely satisfied that the brief for an eco-friendly home has been fully met, with a fabric-first approach that Fraser says is at the heart of any sustainable construction.
"The thermal properties of the house are actually slightly better than Passivhaus standard though we didn’t quite meet its required level of airtightness," says Fraser. "Also, to get certification you need to use specific materials, which come with a cost premium, for which we weren’t prepared to pay the considerably higher prices."
Importantly, Fraser and Anne have a home that is complete with air source heat pump, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, solar panels and battery storage, plus smart heating controls that offer heat optimisation based on factors such as weather and the price of electricity.
"While we’re not self sufficient during winter, we generate more energy over the year than we consume in heating and hot water, and in summer we export to the national grid," says Anne. "We also run an electric car off the power we generate."
Having built a house for the future, the couple take particular satisfaction in knowing that the untreated larch cladding that melds perfectly with its surroundings has ulterior eco benefits. "We often get compliments on it, which is great, especially knowing it won’t need replacing for another 40 years," says Fraser.
If you're looking for more inspiration, take a look at this low-waste extension in London, designed with the planet in mind. Or step inside this glass-box extension in Sheffield, which transformed a claustrophobic family home.
