CASE STUDY LAYER CAKE
The Hammills caused quite a stir when they remodelled a tired old Thirties house in York into a very modern home that became the talk of the town
TEXT & IMAGES HEATHER DIXON P
assers-by thought Erica and Michael Hammill’s house had been destroyed in a gas explosion – such was the extent of its
renovation. “We took it back to a shell – if not beyond,” says Erica. “People were walking past wondering what on earth had happened. They didn’t realise it was deliberate!” The Hammills are used to causing a bit of a
stir. Over the years they have renovated and remodelled a number of properties in their home city of York, some more radically than others, but none of them quite as dramatic as the one they are living in now.
When they first spotted the house for sale in 2015 it was, according to the couple, a “hideous” mid-century property with mock- Tudor detailing on the front gable and an uninspiring conservatory across the back. There was nothing they liked about it – apart from its position. “It’s close to where my Dad lives and also within easy distance of the Knavesmire in York, where I walk our dog,” says Erica. “The location felt right.” So they put in an offer of £470,000, which was accepted, and then rented it out for a year while they decided what they were going to do with it.
“Our first thought was to demolish it and start again,” says Michael. “We got an architect on board and he came up with an amazing design which we both liked, and which met with verbal approval from York City Council. However, we soon realised that the cost would probably spiral out of control and would be way beyond our budget, so we agreed to pull back and use the permitted development route instead to increase the size of the house.” Michael and Erica spent months developing their ideas, Michael focusing on the floor plan, the building regs and structure, while Erica homed in on functionality and aesthetics. “We both have very strong views so there were a lot of lively discussions over the layout of rooms and how everything would work on a practical level, without compromising the overall design of the house,” says Erica.
What they eventually achieved was a completely new house based on the maximum extension allowed under permitted development of the original footprint. By eking out every square foot, streamlining external
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EXTERIORS TO REAR The layer cake effect of the tiered house is particularly evident at the back – the moon door opening in the wall created using a circular timber former, built outwards with rounded blockwork
LOW POINT
Everything coming to a stop when we discovered the Roman remains under the site
of the garage. It took a while to get the build back on track. – Michael
walls, extending where possible, opening up internal spaces and converting the attic, they managed to increase the house to almost double its original size of 1,800 square feet to its final size of 3,500 feet. “There were one or two adjustments and compromises along the way, but if you really put your mind to it and do your research, you can gain a lot of extra space under permitted development,” says Michael. The Government’s online Planning Portal
offers a rough guide to permitted development rights which states that only half the area of land around the original house can be covered by extensions or other buildings. Extensions cannot be higher than the highest part of the existing roof; or higher at the eaves than the existing eaves. An extension cannot be built forward of the ‘principal elevation’ i.e. where it fronts a highway. Side extensions cannot exceed four metres in height and can only be single storey, measuring only up to half the width of the original house. Extensions of more than one storey must not extend beyond the rear wall of the original house by more than eight metres under certain circumstances. “Michael worked out that by using permitted development alone we could still create something which was
issue 01 2021
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