Street), fronted by Kevin McCloud. The Maliks had already decided in the summer of 2017 – long before that show hit the small screen – that they wanted to be part of the Graven Hill experiment. Dheeraj says: “We were living in Slough in a townhouse, but we wanted a home where we could easily entertain family and friends. We’d always wanted to self-build but to have what we wanted – open-plan space, high ceilings and a little more countryside on our doorstep – we knew we needed to get ‘more bang for our buck’ in the housing market. That’s part of the reason for moving along the M40 and further away from London. Graven Hill seemed a golden opportunity.”
Another key driver was the so-called ‘plot passport’ system that’s operated by Graven Hill Village Development Company Limited (owned by Cherwell District Council). In short, self- builders can design the home they want and get planning permission within just 28 days – so long as they abide by some agreed parameters for the plot they choose. This includes the total size of the plot, maximum gross internal area (or floorspace), maximum building height, a palette of building materials and how main services are provided.
Dheeraj says: “The beauty is there’s very little design restriction. There are some checks and balances – you still want a residential housing feel rather than something that looks like a Disney theme park – but otherwise the house can be any style or shape.”
52
www.sbhonline.co.uk
The Maliks took a plot with a gross internal area of 291 m2
and a build volume of 400 m2 . The
maximum height allowed was 11.1 metres, but at its highest point the building is actually 10 metres tall. From the external materials palette for their street, the Maliks chose a mix of white render and a strikingly attractive manufactured stone veneer imported from California – a concrete mixture cast in flexible moulds and hand-coloured with iron oxide pigments. Where the roof is pitched, they opted for Brazilian slate tiles and a reinforced elastomeric polymer-bitumen waterproofing membrane where it is flat. Double glazing features throughout with a thermal efficiency value of 0.9U, exceeding the minimum standard set in the Maliks’ ‘plot passport.’ Dheeraj wouldn’t reveal how much he paid for the plot except to say it was a “competitive” price, but adds that another attractive part of the deal was the ‘golden brick’ approach offered regarding the foundations. “Foundations can be a nightmare because you don’t know what you’re going to find until you dig. But the Graven Hill team will assess ground conditions and give you a fixed fee for the foundation work, regardless of what they might later find. After all, it is a former MoD site!”
The design of the house itself is mostly all Dheeraj’s own work. His job in the financial services sector doesn’t seem to be ideal preparation for such a challenge, but, he reveals, “Before I came to the UK I did start my working
april/may 2020
INDIAN-INSPIRED CEILINGS While average UK ceiling height is 2.4 metres, the Maliks’ home has a 3.2 metre ceiling height on the ground floor
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
