New Dwellings

Wellbourne Grand Designs House front elevation

Wellbourne Grand Designs House 2D drawings

Wellesbourne, Warwickshire (Grand Designs)

It’s a pinch me moment when your client tells you that the project you designed for them is going to be the feature of a Grand Designs episode.

We first met our client Mark, a T5 Paraplegic, 4 years prior to starting the Grand Designs project when he invited us to investigate the possibility of installing a lift into the period brick barn where he lived, unfortunately this was not possible, but during our conversation the desire to build a new full adapted home where an adjoining steel portal barn stood was mentioned, but at the time planning policy simply did not permit new houses in this location.

4 years later Class MB (Q) policy for converting Agricultural Buildings into dwellings came into being and so I contacted Mark to say that by using this method there was the slim possibility of using the policy to establish the principle of a dwelling in this location and then because of Mark’s specific needs justify demolishing the barn and building a full adapted home.

Pioneering, the original planning approval was granted in November 2016 becoming the first approval for a new dwelling that used the fallback position of a Class MB (Q) in the country.

A subsequent revision to the original design in May 2017 went on to become the Grand Design house that was built and although ArchiWildish continued to advise on the aesthetics of the build and we had the great pleasure of meeting Kevin McCloud twice during the filming of the TV episode.

The property was designed to discretely cater for all of Mark’s needs whilst providing a striking and exciting aesthetic charm, a sentiment that Kevin in his typical style portrayed both in front of the camera and off during our conversations.

The success of this building is that it does not appear to be a specially adapted home and in doing so helps to normalise Mark’s disability by not constantly reminding both the occupants and visitors with obvious visual ques such as stark white grab rails, adapted features are present throughout the building but are subtlety integrated and not obvious. First and foremost this is just a very nice house in a lovely location, a home that many people would be pleased to call home and that is something that everyone deserves.

Grand Design Magazine Partner

ArchiWildish are very proud of our Grand Design project, especially with the rigorous planning process and risks taken to reach the end product. To see more of this project then please watch our design on episode marked ‘Warwickshire 2019.

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

A replacement dwelling on the outskirts of the picturesque town of Henley on Thames.

This 8,500sq ft home was designed with a traditional looking front façade and a more contemporary rear elevation, this approach gives the best of both worlds harmoniously blending in with its neighbours whilst providing a light, spacious and airy interior thanks to the glazing at the rear.

With a background in constructing student accommodation our client wanted to take the same economy of scale used for building large accommodation blocks and apply that to his home.

This was possible thanks to the scale of the new house and the steel frame and poured concrete floor meant that the superstructure was quickly erected and this allowed upwards of 40 different trades people to work on site simultaneously.

The rapid construction process meant that from demolition of the existing dwelling to the family moving into their new home happened within 12 months at a cost of around £172 per square foot including the basement and outdoor swimming pool.

Lighthorne, Wiggerland Farm

Back in 2010 planning approval was granted for a replacement dwelling at Wiggerland Farm designed by Mark Wildish FCIAT, discharging the planning conditions and digging some foundations the then client made the permission extant for perpetuity.

Ten years later and new clients purchased the site and contacted Mark asking if he would revisit the proposal. Whilst the new clients would be happy to build the already approved replacement dwelling, if a new design was unsuccessful in achieving planning approval the brief was to retain the cottage appearance at the front but to introduce more glazing and timber framing to the rear but other than that it was a blank canvas for the Archiwildish team to inspire with a fresh approach.

Revisiting one of your designs ten years later and using your additional knowledge and experience to critique your own work, especially when it was a design that you had always been proud of, was a very enjoyable and interesting opportunity.

The resulting redesign is a house that Archiwildish regard as being one of our best, the traditional brick dormer cottage frontage conceals a spacious light and welcoming interior that wills you to explore further, the U shape building with its panoramic courtyard and garden views make this split level house the perfect blend of using traditional materials and styling in a contemporary and interesting arrangement.

Construction work is due to commence on site during November 2022.

Whatcote, Warwickshire

Replacing a 2 bed bungalow with a new dwelling in the small village of Whatcote the challenge was maximising the sites potential whilst balancing expectations for our client, local residents and the planning department.

As our client was intending to live in the house for a few years before wanting to sell on for a profit, their goal was to create a 2 storey, 4 bedroom dwelling that was spacious, comfortable and had kerb appeal, whilst conversely local residents had been used to seeing only a small bungalow on the site for the longest time.

Working with the case officer and the parish council the case for a replacement dwelling (and not a bungalow) was agreed since the site under utilised the space available, but that a lower eaves level with dormer design would help keep the overall height down.

A shallow pitched roof concealed from view between 2 gables on the rear meant that we were able to maximise headroom inside for our client and achieve the desired space, but also make this a characterful property with a bit of quirk that adds to its overall appeal and enhances its position within the village opposite the local pub.

Knighton, Warwickshire

A derivative of our pioneering Grand Designs project this proposed dwelling sought to replace a modern steel barn that
had been granted Class Q approval for conversion to a dwelling.

The existing barn (due to its height) was too short to accommodate a first floor and limited in its potential. Therefore
we were asked to design a new bungalow that was equal to the volume of the barn and this resulted in greater floor area than what was possible from the conversion.

Thanks to our use of 3D BIM we were able to easily and accurately calculate the volume of the existing and proposed.

Drawing inspiration from its surroundings using timber, glass and a green roof the new dwelling was designed to feel “of the landscape”, creating a unique and exciting alternative to the barn conversion.

Darlingscott, Warwickshire

Although replacement dwelling planning policy is generally transparent, occasionally there are cases where circumstances don’t fit with the criteria and the old farmhouse at Darlingscott was one such case.

The replacement dwelling was located just behind the existing farmhouse and since the existing had no rear garden it was proposed to incorporate a disused courtyard as the domestic curtilage and together with the new dwelling being larger than the existing these were the reasons that our first application was refused by the planners.

Fortunately our clients had every faith in us and agreed with our advice that we should appeal the refusal, but as a back up we did secure approval for a revised slightly smaller dwelling that was built on the existing and removed the extra domestic curtilage, whilst we waited for the appeal decision.

Winning the appeal, the planning inspector wholeheartedly agreed with our methodology that the existing farmhouse was smaller than other existing properties in the village and that our proposal was comparative and that positioning it behind the existing contextually improved the setting, together with the change of use of the redundant farmyard to the domestic curtilage for the new dwelling as being a good use of under utilised land.

We were delighted to achieve this approval and we look forward to seeing construction work commence on site.