The benefits and drawbacks of pre-fabricating your dream home
Have you considered using pre-fabrication as a method for building your own home? Germany has been at the forefront of pre-fabricating home design for over 50 years (https://www.weberhaus.co.uk/) and the benefits are very German; time efficient, quality guarantee, energy efficiency guarantees. These advantages are also useful to British self-builders. Anyone who has spent time on a […]
5 Designs that Challenge our British Perceptions of “Home”
While researching abroad, Clare discovered that no matter what culture you live in, our needs from a home are quite similar. However British perceptions of home are known to be fairly conservative, especially in comparison with more contemporary living styles seen in Europe. Clare speaking about how the front garden can be the garden and […]
Hemp, Lime and Timber Frame Prefabricated Panels
Hemp, lime and timber frame prefabricated panels are an exciting way of creating eco-homes. I recently visited a ecohouse (that doesn’t look ‘eco’) completed in August 2016 and built by Greencore construction and was given a guided tour by Julia Bennett and Ian Pritchett. Prefab or craft, can you have both? I wrote a book on […]
Barn use classes & ‘agricultural unit’ clarification
Barn use classes [2023 updated] What use class is a barn? What do all the different letters mean? Class Q is conversion of an agricultural barn to a dwelling house. Formerly known as Class MB and confusingly often also known as a Class C conversion (because it will become class C (domestic use) upon conversion […]
Barns Permitted Development clarifications
Barns Permitted Development [2023 updated] Barns permitted development – How big can I build a barn without planning permission in 2023? You can now create 3 large (more than 100m2) or 5 smaller dwellings (less than 100m2 each) or a mixture of both under Permitted Development. What is Class Q permitted development for a barn? […]
Barn Conversion into a Dwelling, a Guide following changes to permitted development rights
2024 update! Changes to permitted development rights. Permitted development rights have changed in 2024 for a barn conversion into a dwelling. The main thing affecting most of our clients is the maximum per dwelling floor area has now been reduced to 150m2. But the overall area that can be converted has increased to 1,000m2. Therefore […]
Aspirational Vernacular
I recently completed a 6 month trip around the world looking at case studies that have used vernacular methods or technologies, incorporating them into sustainable housing design. This was partly instigated because of a fascination in the vernacular developed while at Oxford Brookes University and partly due to a huge frustration at the lack of […]
