THE KITCHEN IS A KEY PART OF THE OPEN PLAN LIVING AREA ON THE TOP FLOOR. IT IS SURROUNDED BY FLOOR-TO-CEILING WINDOWS THAT HAVE BEEN TREATED WITH A PROTECTIVE COATING THAT HELPS REPEL SALT
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political upheaval with farmers wanting to build houses for their sons on their land, which is a tradition here, that the government relaxed the planning regulations. In that narrow window our architect had a meeting with the planner, who appreciated what we were trying to do, and we finally got our permission after two years’ delay.” David chose local builder David Charleton
to make his dream a reality. “I liked his work ethic,” says David Scott. “He travels to Northern Uganda with his tradesmen and other volunteers every year to construct schools and hospitals and has helped the Northern Ireland based charity ‘Fields of Life’ provide education and
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healthcare for over 41,000 African children and adults. Their latest task is to dig 100 new wells to provide fresh drinking water for 250,000 people. “They were the hardest-working men I could
hope for, on site at 7.30am every day. Relations were always amicable because they knew what they had to do and just got on with it. I had complete confidence and trust in David and his crew.” Demolition and building started in October
2008 and finished in October 2009, its timing dictated by the local birdlife. “The cliff below us has the country’s second biggest kittiwake colony, so we waited until they had fledged and then started building because we had to drill down to the bare rock and that was noisy,” says David. “We built the basement, which is the guest
A NATURAL SPRING WAS DIVERTED TO CREATE A FRESHWATER POOL, WHICH SERVES BOTH AS A WATER FEATURE AND A SOURCE FOR THE GEOTHERMAL HEATING
block, and tanked the whole thing to make it watertight. Then we put pre-cast concrete slabs above that and our timber framed house on top. By March we had the roof on, ready for when the kittiwakes returned to nest in April. The exte- rior is a combination of white render, zinc roof- ing, dark grey aluminium windows and natural stone cladding. We’ve also used slate on the terrace, which resembles the local stone basalt but is much easier to split.” David project managed the build himself with
his friend Jan Madill, an interior designer. “Freda and I had a lot of input but we’re both very strong willed and thought we knew what
...continued on page 13 selfbuilder & homemaker
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THE CLIFF BELOW THE HOUSE IS HOME TO THE COUNTRY'S SECOND LARGEST KITTIWAKE COLONY – BUILDING HAD TO WAIT UNTIL THE BIRDS HAD LEFT FOR THE SEASON!
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