In this article we cover:
- Story behind the design
- Build cost and specification
- Securing planning permission
- Kitchen design
- Heating and ventilation choices
- Utility bills in home with B energy rating
- Top tips for self-building
- Top tips for interiors
- Splurges, surprises and favourite design feature
- Timeline
- Suppliers and floor plans
- Professional photographs
Overview
House size: 203sqm
Plot size: 1.1 ha
Bedrooms: 3
Heating: Air source heat pump
Ventilation: Centralised mechanical with heat recovery
Build method: Timber frame
EPC: B
Total build cost (rounded): £500,000
When Joanne and Liam first moved into their 300-year-old listed cottage over 40 years ago, they never imagined they would get involved in self-building. They adored the house, it was “absolutely charming”, says Joanne, but as time passed, they realised an old building wasn’t the home where they wanted to grow older. Fortunately, they already owned the perfect site – their back garden. “We already had 0.7 hectares, in the form of woodland that we’d planted many years ago, and bought an additional 0.4 hectares for the build,” says Joanne.
From field to home
With little experience of modern house design, the couple initially found it difficult to imagine themselves living in a completely new home. So rather than arriving with a fixed vision, they gave their architects a broad brief and allowed the design to evolve through discussion and exploration.
The process to secure planning permission took many years, with an initial refusal that was eventually won on appeal, with an amended design. Joanne and Liam used this redesign as an opportunity to task their architects, who had previously designed a modern extension to their old home, with creating a light, spacious and age-friendly house that would be easy to live in as they grew older.
The design was conceived to sit gently in the landscape, making the most of the woodland setting, long countryside views and a more sustainable, low-carbon approach to heating and comfort. Two building volumes, one for living and one for sleeping, sit at an angle to each other and are joined by a glazed entrance link. The plan is laid out in such a way that the couple can live entirely on the ground floor when they choose.
The house’s external appearance, with its timber frame construction fully clad in cedar shingles that are gently weathering to grey, makes it at home in its wooded surroundings. Natural materials, neutral tones and thoughtful planting soften the newness of the build on its rural site. Concrete floors inside and out tie the spaces together, while carefully placed windows frame views from the interior to the landscape beyond.
Calm and peaceful
This house has been carefully designed as a calm, peaceful place where Joanne and Liam can enjoy retirement while growing older with independence and dignity. The internal spaces flow naturally into one another and out towards the surrounding landscape. Newly formed ponds promote biodiversity and provide visual interest in the foreground, with views to Lough Neagh.
At the heart of the home is an open plan space including living room, dining room and kitchen, with vaulted space and extensive glazing. From the moment you step through the front door into the generous, light-filled entrance hall, glazed sliding doors immediately connect you to a sheltered courtyard and views to the landscape beyond.
In the main room, a dramatic ‘up and over’ roof window brings daylight into the space, while one gable is completely glazed to capture long views over the countryside. These are new views to Joanne and Liam, as they weren’t captured at the slightly lower level of their original house.
Upstairs, there are two bedrooms and a shower room for family and guests. Joanne uses one bedroom as a space for crafting. Here, the architects wove in subtle references to the couple’s former cottage style home: sloping ceilings, and even a window at floor level, echoing features they loved in the old house.
“You don’t want too much lofty, airy space in your bedroom,” Joanne says. “We designed them to feel cosy.”
Throughout the project, careful thought was given to everything from the overall form of the house to the smallest interior details. The angled arrangement of the two building volumes, cedar shingle cladding, dramatic box windows and distinctive ceiling treatment in the main living space all developed through a well-thought-out design process.
Equally important were decisions such as polished concrete floors, micro cement finishes in the bathrooms and carefully detailed shadow gaps in place of conventional architraves and skirting boards. Many of these were suggestions Joanne and Liam might never have considered, yet they now play an important role in shaping the house’s overall feel.
Top tips
Do your research. Go into a build expecting a steep learning curve and be open to your architect and builder guiding you.
Futureproof. Plan your layout so that everyday life can happen on one level in the future, even if you’re still active now.
Splash out where it matters. It’s worth investing in one or two things that will bring you joy. Focus on what you use on a daily basis and economise on secondary spaces to balance the budget. We splashed out on the cantilevered box window and glazed gable of our lofty living space, while keeping guest bedrooms compact and simply finished.
Bed the house in the landscape. Treat the garden and wider plot as integral to the design, not an afterthought.
Choose an architect you trust and are happy to work with all the way through process, not just the design. It isn’t just about having a nice set of drawings you could pick out of a book. There is a huge amount to manage: all the changes, the decisions, the coordination with the builder and then the unexpected things that will always arise.
Modern and contemporary
Internally, the style of the house is modern and contemporary, but not coldly minimalist. The generous kitchen sits at the heart of the home, with an island placed so that everyday cooking and preparation can happen while looking out through a large window and conversing with guests.
Deliberately, there are no wall units above counter height, which keeps the space feeling open and airy. Instead, floating oak shelves hold the pieces the couple want on display, and everyday clutter disappears into a cleverly planned pantry.
That pantry, which wasn’t in the original drawings, is tucked behind a curved wall off the kitchen. Thanks to its angle, you don’t visually ‘fall into’ the pantry from the main living area, preserving the calm, uncluttered look of the kitchen and sitting space.
“We can hide everything away. There’s no clutter on the island,” Joanne says. “It’s a lovely, calm space to live in.”
With so much glazing, controlling light and temperature was important. Many of the windows are deeply inset, which posed a challenge for blinds. Joanne and Liam found a specialist company (via an old friend) who supplied flexible blinds for the bedroom windows, which can be adjusted up, down, or halfway for privacy and shading. Additional rooflights brighten the upper areas.
For heating, the couple opted for a heat pump that heats the house at 21degC year round and supplies it with hot water at 50degC. They also installed solar panels that generate electricity with a battery. “It’s very satisfying to see the electricity bills come in, as we often earn a few shillings from the surplus we generate,” says Joanne. Throughout the course of the year, their utility bills come to £1,000 altogether including everything from heating and cooking to hot water.
Underfloor heating runs throughout the house, upstairs and down. Thought was also given to comfort during hot weather: the system can run cool water through the floors, taking the edge off heat build-up in summer. “It’s not air conditioning, but it does cool the house down,” Joanne says, adding that the house is comfortably warm in winter and manageable in sunny spells.
Although the construction process went smoothly overall, it took place against the backdrop of Covid and Brexit, with all the associated delays and supply issues. Joanne admits they had no idea, starting out, just how many decisions and technical details would need to be managed.
Decisions, decisions
Coming from a traditional listed building, the couple found the sheer number of decisions involved in a new-build project surprising. Many aspects of contemporary construction were entirely unfamiliar territory. They say they particularly valued having experienced professionals to guide them through the process, helping them navigate choices and introducing possibilities they would never have considered themselves.
Here, their architect’s role was critical. They didn’t just provide a set of drawings; they managed the process, coordinated with the builder and continued to refine the house as it evolved – right down to designing the workspace and bookcases in the upstairs rooms, after the couple had moved in.
The practice also played a key role in managing relationships throughout the build. Joanne and Liam recall that communication between themselves, their architect and contractor remained constructive even during the inevitable challenges. They particularly appreciated the calm, methodical approach taken to resolving technical issues as they arose and ensuring that details were executed correctly on site.
For a successful self-build, there are two key ingredients says Joanne: “A good architect is number one; patience is number two.”
Calm haven
Just as much thought went into the surrounding landscape as into the design of the house. Joanne, a keen gardener, worked with a landscaper to shape the wider area. What was once simply a field is now a carefully managed wildflower meadow with mown paths and structured areas nearer the house.
The woodlands, planted by the couple, now frame the approach. A driveway threads through these trees to the house, while the area immediately around the building is more deliberately designed. At the rear, a large patio/terrace provides an outdoor living area, backdropped by wildflowers, ponds and the broader meadow. Joanne and Liam even purchased an extra acre of land in the neighbouring field to extend the ecological and visual impact. Now that they’ve settled into the house, Joanne and Liam are delighted with their self-built home.
The light-filled rooms, generous circulation spaces and strong connection to the landscape have created a home that is both beautiful and highly functional. It works well both for everyday living and entertaining, while remaining adaptable for the years ahead. While they loved their former home, Joanne and Liam say the light, openness and practicality of the new house have transformed their day-to-day lives.
The age-friendly layout gives them confidence for the future, while the generous living space allows family and friends to gather comfortably. Upstairs provides accommodation for guests, while downstairs contains everything needed for daily living. Looking back, they admit they never set out to build a dream home.
The project emerged naturally from the opportunity presented by the site and evolved over time. What has surprised them most is not the process itself, but how completely the house has exceeded their expectations. “We enjoy the light and space, as well as the functionality. It’s a calm haven and a wonderful home in which to move around, entertain friends and just be.”
Project info
Suppliers
Architect
Studio idir
Lead contractor
Kudos for timber frame and Zyle Fenster glazing, and for supplying: front door by Drumderg Joinery, stairs by Oldtown Joinery, box window by Crosby Windows NI.
Heat pump and underfloor heating
Supplied by Daly Renewables; Hitachi Yutaki-M 11kW consists of RASM-3VNE (1380mm H x 950mm L x 370mm D), with 11kW heat output and COP of 4.6, Hitachi Scroll Inverter compressor, 300litre external heat pump rated DHW tank with constant hot water up to 55degC, weather compensation control with max flow temp set to 35degC, Legionella protection, Tahoma Gateway for remote monitoring, screed drying function.
MVHR
Vent Axia Kinetic Plus mechanical ventilation with heat recovery with up to 90 per cent thermal efficiency; the unit is connected to atmosphere via two wall terminals using 150mm diameter pre-insulated EPP rigid duct (internal diameter of 150mm, external diameter +/-180mm diameter). The MHRV connects to two HB+ manifolds (supply and extract) which are located close to the HRV unit and connected to the HRV unit using a combination of pre-insulated EPP rigid duct (internal diameter of 125mm external diameter +/-150mm diameter) and 150mm Isodec flexible insulation (to reduce noise level of system). Tributary ducting from the manifolds to each room is Hybalans (HB+) semi rigid HDPE ducting with an external diameter of 92mm (internal diameter 75mm).
PV
Solarfix supplied 5.4kW Q.Antum Duo BLK ML-G9+ panels with 10kWh SolarEdge battery
Photography
Donal McCann, donalmccann.com
Spec
Walls: timber frame,
U-value 0.16W/sqmK
Roof: trussed roof, cedar shingles
covering, U-value 0.13W/sqmK
Floor: standard buildup, U-value
0.16W/sqmK
Solar panels: 5.4 kW with 10 kWh
battery, renewable energy generation
1,700 kWh
Energy use: Predicted (design stage):
92 kWh/sqm/yr
As-built: 70 kWh/sqm/yr
Actual house energy use with PV:
39 kWh/sqm/yr
Airtightness: 1.99m3/h.sqm at 50Pa
