I imagine most people who have decided to undertake a self-build will have some concept of what house they want to build but are likely to be scant on a lot of the detail. For us, the main driver for the design of our house is its eco-credentials - we firmly believe that all new houses should aim to be carbon neutral if not carbon negative. Our other main design goal is to have a modern space to live in, scaling down from our current five bedroom 17th century home.
Progressing from concept to detail design often involves a lot of internet searching and flicking through self-build magazines. We have found the Build It magazine to be a really useful resource and three times a year the Build It Live show brings loads of architects, building firms and product suppliers together in one place which, if you aren't overwhelmed (!), is a great source of information. We also visited the National Self Build & Renovation Centre (NSBRC), near Swindon, which has a permanent exhibition of trade stands and access to advice from self-build experts.
After the initial ideas generation, the usual way to proceed to a full design for your self-build is to engage an architecture practice, and having an architect design you a house which meets all your perceived needs (and whims) might seem the best solution. After all, you will surely get just what you want! However, for us, an architect designed house felt potentially unbounded, especially how much the design would cost to build and, to a greater or lesser extent, the level of risk involved ... could we end up in Grand Designs territory 🙂? Our priority was to have a good handle on what the build costs were going to be (famous last words!!) and to have something more than drawings on which to base decisions.
An alternative approach to engaging an architect is to use a company who specialise in pre-designed, often "modular" houses (see for example Dan Wood or Heb Homes). These have the advantage of being based on tried and tested designs and often the design and build comes as a turnkey package ie you commission a house which is designed, built and kitted out to your spec by an experienced, professional team – ready for you to move into. The only potential downside is you are buying something which is more standard than an architect could offer.
We decided on this second route and after a few visits to their show home in Battle, East Sussex we decided to go with Wunderhaus. They have designed, and built, an advanced eco house which also which also really meets our requirements for a modern living space.
Much more on the Wunderhaus and the technology it incorporates in later blogs and in the Tech section.
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