- January 26, 2015
After a process of selection Les and Jan commissioned us to design their new house on a sensitive site adjacent to a grade II listed church in the village of Broughton which the previous owners took 7 years to secure consent for a traditional stone cottage fronting the main road. Their ambition was to build a house that is attractive, contemporary, functional and sustainable within the village and local setting and in particular protecting the street view of the Church Spire from Church Street.The layout was arranged within 3 simple spaces – living, sleeping and working so the movement through the house is both efficient and harmonious on a single level accommodation platform without any steps to provide good access throughout for able and disable users and a lack of corridors enables the floor space use to be efficiently.
A wild flower bio diverse meadowland garden to the rear creates a strong connection to the countryside and wildlife corridors to the adjoining Church land and nearby Spinney. The south facing orientation of the house provides pitch for a P.V. array, which will provide all of the electricity needs of the house. The use of rainwater harvesting for non-potable water use is to be integrated into the design. The retention of the existing hedge to the west boundary to protect the existing bird nesting habitat. The materials to be used in the construction were procured to support a sustainable building.
Our vision embraces all that is applicable to BUILDING FOR LIFE 12, the environment and its contemporary architecture captures the links of Broughton’s heritage to the countryside without compromise to the future manner that families will live and work in.
