kind of a tender process. We got four or five architects out to site,” Alan explains. “It was interesting to find out what their view was. That was before getting planning permission, to see if they felt they could get it.”
Their decision to go with Andrew was based largely on the fact he’d obtained planning for some houses in the in-demand town of St Andrews, a few miles up the coast. “It’s really difficult to get planning there, so I thought if he can get it in St Andrews, he can get it in Dalgety Bay!” Alan says. “He ticked all the boxes.” They decided it was essential to show the planners that they were serious, so they went in with a full set of detailed designs. The tactic worked – they were granted planning straight away, for a two and a half storey house. However, having concentrated so much on designing the interior, neither Alan nor Lucy, a teacher, had paid a huge amount of attention to the exterior. “We decided that we actually hated the look of the house and couldn’t build it!” Alan says, explaining further that “we’d never been through this process before.” At this point, they actually considered selling the land on, as being granted planning meant its value had increased significantly. It was the architect Andrew who convinced them they would regret it which Alan admits he “definitely would have.”
Because they’d now been through the process and had a much better idea of how it worked, they “took the lead” when redesigning the house. They came up with the new design – a two-storey house with a detached double garage (including additional living space above) – and once again received planning with no
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hitches. “They were tremendous,” Alan says of the planners. “They were happy for us to do something different to the rest of the street.”
STARTING ONSITE
The day before work was due to begin onsite Alan and Lucy’s project got somewhat more interesting. It was at this point that designer and TV presenter Charlie Luxton arrived to offer his thoughts on the couple’s designs, as their project was to feature on an episode of Building the Dream. Although for the most part he was on board with their plans, he also wanted them to reconsider a few elements, such as extending the balcony.
Work began onsite the next day, but it wasn’t long before things ground to a halt while the design changes were made, which meant going back to the structural engineers and planners for a third time. Alan estimates this cost them roughly £15,000, and nearly six months of time. Despite the hold up, they persevered, and the builders eventually returned to the site. The main contractor, Marc Hendry, was a good friend of Alan’s. “It was him from day one,” he says. Marc attended meetings with the architect and had input into the design. “The architect would come up with ideas – curved walls for instance – and Marc would say ‘that’s costly for what you’re getting,’” Alan explains. With Marc’s help, Alan project managed the build himself. A few months in, the couple sold their house and moved in with Lucy’s parents just a 10-minute walk away, so he was able to be onsite everyday. He also bought a caravan to sit onsite as his office. Despite being there most of the time, he wasn’t hands-on. “I’m useless at
march/april 2019
The house was built using a timber kit frame, completely assembled onsite
LOW POINT
“When the build finished! (For me, not for the family!)” – Alan Brown
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