HIGH POINT


“Seeing it completed; strangel te first roo that was fully completed was the family bathroom. In the original bungalow it was a typical 1970s avocado bathroom, and it was very dark in there/ The day I came into the house and the bathroom had been done, I thought, wow that’s fabulous, so modern and light, with everything owing togeter. – Philip Westcott


maximise the surrounding views of the Downs, and so Philip could enjoy the trees which encircle the property. The new house would be in the form of two blocks – the existing one- storey building and a new, two-storey extension using te ground oor o te ungalow connected by a glass hallway, echoing the entrance that existed before the remodel. There is a third block for a stand-alone garage. The major challenge was pulling off such a contemporary design in a National Park. “We ad a dificult planning stage arcitect aul admits. The house is on a private, no-through road of substantial properties set in relatively large plots. “Quiet, without being isolated,” Philip says. Planners were keen not to interrupt the established look and feel of the area. The initial design had to be changed by moving the new extension with its upper storey to the back of the plot to reduce the visual impact facing the road. Paul negotiated this through pre-application engagement with local planning oficers at icester istrict ouncil working also with the South Downs National Park Authority. “This required a good relationship wit te planning oficers a ew site isits and ultimately a minor compromise that did not reduce the project scope or ambition,” Paul says. His approach was to explain things using a series of storyboards, as this “enables people to grab the ideas simply.”


jul/aug 2024


Surprisingly, external treatments were not subject to tight planning strictures, other than that materials used externally should appear natural.


As much of the existing house as possible


was reused; this impressed the planners, kept expenditure down to a build cost of £450,000, and meant the overall build was indeed as sustainable as possible. The extension is designed to rise above the original masonry walls on a timber frame, with steel columns to support the weight.


One big plus was that the bungalow and its garage had what is known as a gabled ‘cut roof,’ having been built on site rather than shipped in prefabricated sections when the bungalow was built. This meant it could be easily dismantled tile by tile and replaced with a striking modern at roo tat is insulated eail wit elote PIR rigid board insulation. This was important to keep te ouse energeficient it was not possible to add further insulation inside the existing cavity walls. Placing insulation between the beams, and an extra layer underneath the roof itself, provided an effective solution in terms of cost and labour – as opposed to adding internal or external wall insulation. o ensure optiu energ eficienc all te windows were replaced with composite-framed timber and aluminium double-glazing. A gas boiler powers radiators at ground level with


www.sbhonline.co.uk 23


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  |  Page 69  |  Page 70