The Brief
When Jane and Phil retired, they decided to follow in Jane’s parents’ footsteps by retiring to Herefordshire. Indeed, they decided to retire to the same farmhouse where her parents had spent more than 30 happy and fulfilling years.
The farmhouse has a beautiful rural location, and its generous plot would allow Jane and Phil to enjoy their passion for growing their own produce.
However, the house itself needed work. Jane’s parents had done a lot of renovation when they had first moved into the property, and much of it had reached the end of its life.
In addition, the extensions that had been added had created a warren of rooms, many of which were dark, and inadequately and inefficiently heated.
“Everywhere was somewhere to go, but there was nowhere to sit where you didn’t feel you were in a thoroughfare.”
Phil
Overall, there was a lot of space, but it wasn’t being used to its full potential. There was a big hallway, which was rarely used. The small dining room was housed in a conservatory with a polycarbonate roof, and the only fridge was in the pantry, which meant preparing and cooking food was awkward.
Jane and Phil wanted to create a highly liveable, light-filled home where they could enjoy their retirement to the full.
They also wanted it to be sustainably powered and to make use of local materials wherever possible. They invited us to support their journey to achieving this vision.
“We knew this was going to be our last home so we wanted to do lots of things that would make life easier for us. We needed to understand how to make that happen.”
Phil
The Design Strategy
Three design principles were central to successfully meeting Jane and Phil’s needs.
We needed to create a light and pleasant home that made the most of its countryside setting. We needed to make better use of the space available to make the home easier to live in and enjoy. Importantly, every change we made needed to maintain or enhance the farmhouse’s heritage and character.
To achieve these principles, we removed the conservatory that housed the dining room. In its place we added a small extension to create an open plan kitchen and dining area and give space for a secondary kitchen or utility room.
We also added an extension to the side of the home to create a ground floor en-suite bedroom that would provide accommodation for Jane’s father, as well as create the facility for ground floor living for Jane and Phil in the future.
We reconfigured the internal layout of the ground floor to create a welcoming entrance hall, a bootroom and a larger open plan sitting area.
We originally intended to keep and refurbish a sunroom at the front of the house, which would have made the sitting area even larger. However, as we received quotes from building contractors as part of Stage Two of our process, it became clear that the cost of doing this would outweigh the reward.
We therefore took the decision to remove the sunroom. This proved to be a significant gain. It allowed more of the home’s beautiful stone frontage to be visible. It also revealed that the first-floor windows had needed to be made smaller to accommodate the sunroom’s roofline. Removing the sunroom therefore gave us the opportunity to reinstate the original window lines, which has given the front elevation more character and presence.
Throughout, the choice of materials was critical to the project. The kitchen extension is constructed using oak and features large aluminium-framed glazed elements that connect the space to the outside. The roofs on both extensions use zinc, which gives them an aesthetic that is undeniably contemporary but also means they sit in harmony with the site and its setting. We used traditionally-designed flush casement painted timber windows and doors in the existing house to restore its original appearance.
In keeping with Jane and Phil’s desire to use local materials, the floors used locally quarried stone. The couple also carefully selected fixtures and fittings from local makers including lighting from Fritz Fryer and Jenny Crisp.
The Sustainability Strategy
For Jane and Phil, the sustainability of their home was central to their requirements, and we used the principles of our Sustainability & Energy Creed as our foundation to achieve this.
The new extensions were thermally efficient by design. We also made thermal upgrades to the existing accommodation to reduce the energy required to heat the home.
At the same time, we used low carbon technologies throughout the building.
Heating is provided via a ground source heat pump, which works well with the stone floors because they retain the heat so well. We installed a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system which extracts stale air from the bathrooms and kitchens. At the same time, it also recovers heat from the air it is extracting and transfers it to the fresh incoming air that is supplied to the living areas.
Jane and Phil have subsequently installed solar PVs and battery storage to harness the power from the sun. Combined with the home’s spring water supply, the work has created a home that is sustainable and feels intimately connected to its landscape.
The Outcome
Now the work is complete it has created the light, warm, practical and sustainable space that Jane and Phil needed.
“It’s made what was a perfectly OK home into something that is a bit special. It’s made a useful space and a liveable space. It’s also nice to feel that for our remaining years it is a comfortable and low-carbon space that no longer uses oil.”
Phil
The couple are keen cooks, so they particularly appreciate the well-planned kitchen and knowing they can entertain with ease. The underfloor heating and ventilation systems play a part in this too, and visitors particularly comment on the warmth and comfort of the space.
The secondary kitchen is also a source of joy and is always a hive of activity as they turn their home grown produce into preserves, pickles and other delights.
They’re much better connected to the outside too, which means they’re able to enjoy their beautiful setting when they’re relaxing.
“We’ve positioned bird feeders so we can see them from the windows when we’re sitting down with a cup of tea or coffee. We can also watch hedgehogs as they come and go in the evenings.”
Jane
Ultimately, the couple have created a home they enjoy spending time in.
“We used to get a huge amount of enjoyment from travelling. We have much less desire to do that now. Nowhere we go seems quite as nice as here!”
Jane
