It’s July 2025, and the roof is on. The initial covering that goes under the green roof is in place, and the supporting structure for the zinc-finished canopies is going in. The roof is made from airtight smart ply, which minimises heat loss and enables an airtight construction.
We can also see the latchway in place, which gives a safety line for easy access to the roof for maintenance.
Nick is busy with carpentry work for the edges of the roof to support the zinc. Then the zinc is installed at the edges of the roof canopies, ready for the green roof to go behind. Because of the lower pitch of this roof, we can use zinc, not tiles.
In the roof, there are many spaces for roof lights. The square ones are for smaller service areas in the building, while the larger ones are above beds to view the night sky. The largest is above the entrance to the main space, to draw you into light as you enter it.
The glass
The glass also arrives, carefully unloaded onto site into the correct locations ready to be fitted to each of the window openings. There are many windows in the building, so we have opted for solar-protected glass. This is thermally efficient, working in combination with the overhangs on the roof to keep the building cool by blocking out more of the sunlight.
Services
Plumbing installations are going in, with different pipes labelled in terms of flows and returns. The pipes are also being insulated – first around the fixing, and then the rest of the pipe.
We can see the intricacy of the services required for this building. Here is where two different worlds come together – the rammed earth construction, and the services needed for living in it.
Outbuilding
The garage and external plant room are also being built. This is a masonry building, to be clad with North Cot bricks chosen in order to sit in harmony with the historic red-brick buildings which you can see nearby, rather than the new house.
The block work of the garage and lintels is now going in, and site-won oak will clad the walls of the building.
This outbuilding features a pitched roof, to which photovoltaic panels will be fitted. The generated power will be stored with whole-house batteries which will power the lighting, plus heating and ventilation through air source heat pumps. The outbuilding also creates a boundary line to protect privacy for the new house and existing neighbours.
Landscaping
Hedges have been installed to a design by Robert Myers Associates. Wild meadowgrass has also been planted, which is now coming up around the house and turning green again, to fit into the rest of the landscape after being bare soil for the past year or so.
We have hedges around the radius, to complement our ‘ha-ha’ (which acts as a separator between the existing field and the nectar-rich wildflower grassland meadow). You can also see the swale, which almost mirrors the ha-ha as an attenuation pool, capturing water as it runs off the site. This prevents flooding in the lane behind.
The public footpath is still maintained with Heras fencing while the project continues. The new hedges give glimpses to the house, but mostly give views into the National Landscape of the Malvern Hills.
