The view from the main entrance of the finished building.
BACKGROUND
This small new new build on the northern edge of Brighton & Hove was brought to us by local Architect – Anil Barnes from Indigo Design who wanted to work with a company that had used natural materials and novel design details in the past and were up for the challenge of doing so again.
Work began onsite in February of 2019 when the demolition of the existing structure began, the end result is stunning – judge for yourselves.
demolishing the original garage
Period/Age of House: Newbuild
No. Bedrooms: n/a – music room
No. other rooms: 2 – workshop & WC
No. of floors: 2
Floor Area: 60m2
Cost: approx (client asked not to add)
Wall type: Solid Masonry & Timber Frame
GROUND WORKS
setting out for the foundations is a key step – using this insulated raft system was new to us all – but very satisfying.
The beginning of any new build is about arranging the site, the drainage, the foundations and the slab. It’s all heavy work and requires a lot of forward planning and thinking. So, Bright Green Homes have been working with a specialist subcontractor (Carr Contractors) for many years now who specialise in this kind of work and are meticulous in all the preparations.
pouring the foundation slab into the formed insulated base proved very straightforward
Then having got all the drains and the sub-base fitted a specialist company – Isoquik – came and laid the insulated formwork for the base of the new build – it was a surprisingly easy and effective method requiring no strip foundations at all – which we then added steel and concrete to create the base for the new 2 storey build.
GROUNDFLOOR
The design of the ground floor below the surrounding garden and it proposed use as a workshop leant it to being built in heavy blockwork & an insulation layer on the outside
The final design of this building is that it was to be used as a workshop on the ground floor and a music room above.
Also as this floor is partially submerged by the garden around it the architect had specified a heavy weight blockwork finish with EPS insulated external wall insulation around. There were also some complicated waterproofing details that needed to be accommodated which hadn’t fully been anticipated – but solving problems onsite is part of the day to day business of construction.
So once the masonry had been partially built we added the EPS insulation over the damp-proofing system and backfilled the ground around it.
EPS insulation and damp-proofing
This then allowed us to continue to build the masonry up to head height for the ground floor and begin the process of laying the floor and the timber framework to upstairs.
FIRST FLOOR
The whole of the first floor is a timber frame utilising a system from Pasquill which is part of the Saint Gobain family of companies in construction. These walls were then fully filled with Jute fibre insulation with an additional layer of Gutex woodfibre (both from Ecological Building Systems) and then 300mm of Jute Fibre in the roof.
The timber frame and airtightness layer had to be carefully considered
This area is designed as a music room so to keep the temperature on an even keel all year round was a high priority for our client, as well as the natural filtering of the air and reduced VOCs offered by these natural materials.
Jute Fibre Insulation adds protection against overheating
SERVICES
With such a well insulated shell this had to be supported with beautiful windows and doors which were supplied by Velfac and three Velux windows in the roof (two of which are electronically controlled) allows for quick venting of the space if necessary on the very hottest of days. The heating chosen was electric but the power output needed is very minimal.
And the view inside is just as stunning as the outside
Its a fabulous space to be creative – and our client is already enjoying it immensely