Home Building

So a quick recap, we sold our house and bought “the house that twitter built” in 2011. We spent six months settling, the next six finding the right architectural partner and the six months after that working with Innex Design the best way to develop the house and space we have. Happy doesn’t come close to how I feel about what our home will be like one day but we still have a long way to go and the next thing was to get the necessary planning permission so our application was submitted at the end of January and we waited … and we waited … and we waited some more … and then waited some more still… S L O W is an understatement, I’m sure they were being thorough *raises eyebrows*

I’m very methodical and with this project I am crossing the bridges in my head only when I reach them (otherwise I’d be at wallpaper, lamps & cushions) there’s no point working out the specifications and costs of the build until the plans are approved and there’s no point working out the finance until we know the specifications and costs. So that’s where we have been. Waiting for planning permission, so whilst we waited I took the opportunity to ask my architect, Chris Catelani of Innex Design my questions about planning and what was happening during this stage of our project and thought I’d share his answers for anyone in or embarking on a similar project.

Question 1: So we created our design and submitted the plans to the Local Authority, what happens during the planning assessment / approval process? What are these planners looking for / doing?

Chris Catelani, Innex Design: We submit the application online via the planning portal, which has some good interactive tools for people who don’t know if they need planning permission http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/ The council allocate themselves a 6-8 week time period to access the planning application, during this time the 1st thing they will do is send out letters to neighbours offering them the chance to comment on the proposals. They will then after 21 day consultation period consider neighbours comments and assess the application is in accordance with planning policy, the officer will visit the site to inspect the surroundings first hand and to determine if the proposals are detrimental to any neighbouring properties or objectors.

Question 2: We submitted our plans at the end of January how long should it take & when does the clock start ticking?

Chris Catelani, Innex Design: I don’t think this is an easy question to answer, the plans were submitted but the council are slow and took weeks to validate the application, the council have validation officers who check that the application form is complete, the fee is correct and the information submitted is correct i.e. site location plan of the property at the correct scales. Once validated the 6-8 week clock is ticking for a decision although some applications can take longer than the 8 weeks. Each council is different even though they follow the same policy.

Question 3: Applying for planning felt like a scary prospect but Innex Design have meant we haven’t had any contact – is that normal or are you just brilliant? Should a home owner or an architect handle the local authority?

Chris Catelani, Innex Design: To us its normal, if we are commissioned to provide architectural services for a domestic house extension we treat it the same as a million pound plus project. Our clients appoint us as professionals and we aim to deliver a professional service from start to finish, we hear of design practices who offer architectural services but wont deal with the council as it can be time consuming! we think its wrong, you wouldn’t get on a plane and fly it yourself, so why should the legalities of improving, what is to most people the most valuable asset they own be left to chance.

A decision was made on our planning application last week, the verdict is coming up in my next post here!

The fab team at Innex Design finished our house designs a couple of months ago, Mr L and I have been revisiting looking at them from time to time just to be 100% sure we haven’t missed anything.  We don’t think we have and I’m sharing the plans for a last sense check as we submit our application for planning permission this month.

So let me show you round and let me know your thoughts:

• Ground floor
• First floor
• Exterior elevations

Our extension is two storey so requires planning permission from East Cheshire, so what next?  Whilst that is going through the appropriate channels I am going to be having a look at some of the numbers, costs, budgeting and giving some thought to how we will fund and possibly phase the build.  Any tips anyone?  Please do share!

I don’t particularly want to phase the build, once we start I want to crack on right through to final finish but there are some things we need to do before we can start, for example a place to accommodate the contents of the existing garage before we can knock it down.  We are a long way from colour schemes, wall coverings and cushions however that said I will be spending most of my week looking at next week at the Interiors Show at NEC – you can never have too much inspiration too early I say!

Our home development is significant there is no denying that, having worked up the ground floor and first floor plans my ability to visualise what the actual house will look like is zero!  Luckily Innex Design know exactly how to help their clients see what home their designs will create.  So lets start at the front of with the current house as it is today:

From the front all the development is to the left, the elevation below unwraps the side of the garage which is along our boundary to our left hand neighbours so what is actually visible is the garage door and new window on the ground floor and two new windows on the first floor and lots of new roof, lets not forget lots of new roof!

Here’s the back on the ground floor the living room to the left, kitchen in the middle, back door and utility room to the right.

The proposed new rear elevation I am a lot in love with, I mean just look at it?

What can I say about the new look at the back of the house – bi-folds, bi-folds and another bi-folds – what’s not to love?  Well the cost I suppose but what price should you pay for making yours dreams a reality?  Well I’ll let you know!    

I’d love to hear what you think, any advice or any recommended suppliers – let me know your thoughts.

Here are the links to the proposed ground floor and first floor plans.

Currently at the top of the stairs the is a small 1m part of landing to our bedroom door with its “en cupboard”.  In the new design we move the door to be in line with the top of the stairs so the landing is integrated into the new bedroom when the “en cupboard” (it just has a sink & shower, not even a door!) will be extended to as en-suite with sink, shower &  WC.  This is a “jack & jill” en-suite which can be assessed from both this bedroom which will become Diva G’s and the spare bedroom.  I see doing this room as potentially being a stand alone project before we start the overall re-build.

The bathrooms have been the rooms we have played with most in the design and using the “Jack & Jill” approach has allowed all permanent residents to have their own en-suite, as well as the spare room as well as having a bathroom accessed from the landing.  The bathroom accessed from the landing is also accessed from Lil H’s bedroom which is created by lifting the roof over the existing WC and wardrobe storage area.  What is currently Diva G’s room is knocked together with the bathroom to create our fourth bedroom which shares the Jack & Jill en suite with her new bedroom.  The corridor between the fourth bedroom and Lil H’s en suite leads to our new master bedroom suite.

Our Master bedroom suite is all newly built above the new garage, dining and kitchen area. I can’t wait to retreat to this bedroom – I may even throw a cartwheel or two ’cause hey, I’ll have the room so what the hell!  But seriously how I plan this space I need to really think carefully about and I will be using hanging rails for a while before Rob Lancaster makes wardrobes.

There you have it four bedrooms, three bathrooms, want to check out the new elevations?

How we use the ground floor has always seemed easier than the first floor, perhaps because it’s because it is a living space we have more demands of it than the bedrooms and bathrooms where we spend limited time, I don’t know. How to best use the space for maximum potential needed the professional architectural expertise of Innex Design.

So lets start at the front door. As you enter to your right we currently have the living room, we have pinched a bit of the living room to create an office, for us this means the occasional clients visit is contained away from the family home, we can easily see deliveries arriving and lock ourselves away from family distractions easily as and when we need to.  The living room isn’t compromised as it will be extended to the rear. Left off the hall is the playroom which will remain a playroom and become a teen hang out over time, there will be a door, probably a sliding door, through to the new dining space. The downstairs in relocated from by the back door to under the stairs with a little addition from the current kitchen which is becoming the family lounge, this is what I call our 7am til 7pm space.

From the very first viewing we always saw the dead space between the house and current garage as the main potential opportunity to add value and space by incorporating it.  The garage is rebuilt to incorporate a utility room to the rear which connects the garage and the house together.  The design provides a kitchen which is open to both the living and dining area, I’m very excited about this and the glazed pitch roof will maximise the natural light without limiting the kitchen wall space and design.

For many years now I have had a little pang of jealousy every time a home renovation programme puts bi-fold doors in – I have lusted after bi-fold doors long before Christian Grey was a glint in his authors eye!  Can you tell that from the finished design?!  The right hand corner is really important too, especially to Mr L.  The return down the side of the house is also glass so we will have clear, unobstructed views of the full width of the garden. The intention is also to have a log burner in the living room for a focal point as well as heat and real flame beauty.

 Here’s how the overall layout of the ground floor – you like?  Shall we check out upstairs? 

We love books in this house. The children have hundreds. We have more books than places to put them and a regular visit every week to the library adds to the pile, in a good way of course!

Diva G has a Dolls House bookcase which for her birthday this weekend has been accessorised to become a dolls house leaving many more books homeless.

So last weekend inspired by Pinterest boards across the globe I paid a visit to Ikea. I needed only one thing, Ribba Picture Ledge, and I needed lots of it! My plan was to create a reading corner in the Diva’s bedroom and a bookshelf around the playroom storing the books and adding decoration to both rooms by putting the gorgeous colourful book covers on view.

We, well Mr L is the best handyman in Wilmslow, mitred the corners of the ledges, the end result is better for it in my opinion. This approach wasn’t the easiest, the walls of our house aren’t straight and the corners aren’t a square 90 degrees, worse than that the angle changes slightly for each and every shelf. Measure twice and cut once for each and every shelf is the lesson learnt! I am really chuffed with how our shelving project has turned out and Diva G and Lil H have rediscovered some of their books being able to see so many more covers and not just book spines. So here you are, I’d love to know what you think.

I’m delighted with how they look, feel free to Pin, Stumble & Share etc. if you like what we’ve done here. Claire x

Things continue to develop with the house, we’re in no rush & my view is you can never do enough planning. We have decided on Plan A, that’s the one for us.

We are very excited about the ground floor, it is spot on for us.  I can see the space working well for us and our children as they become young adults – the average age for leaving home in the UK is now 31.8 years old.  I repeat 31.8 years old!  Best not to think too long on that one so moving on … we’d probably look to do the door between the playroom and the dining space a sliding door / wall but that’s a minor installation point really.  Ground floor we’re done – tick!

Upstairs we also really like, but we feel we have one too many bathrooms.  I mean they don’t clean themselves do they?!  So whilst keeping all the permanent residents at Villa Lancaster with ensuites we’d like to create a larger master bedroom suite and look at “Jack & Jill” options for the family bathroom & spare room.  Something along these, very roughly amended by hand, lines:

The North West’s finest architectural talent at Innex Design is re-looking at the first floor to make the whole of the new built area our master bedroom & en suite allowing for a bath in the en suite.  Looking at whether / how to make Lil H’s en-suite a jack & jill to the landing which ticks the family bathroom suite box.  Also to look at whether it would be possible to make Diva G’s en suite jack & jill to the spare bedroom.

One element we really like about the first floor of Plan A is that our current bedroom becomes Diva G’s and could be pretty much a stand alone project.  This excites me as we could possibly do this whilst still saving up for the big main build.  I need this.  I need to have a room in this house I like because at the moment there isn’t one!  Not even half of one!  Whilst our house is very liveable and full of potential it remains not my taste, a bit shabby and whilst we have done some make-do-make-overs twelve months on I am finding my domestic surroundings quite frankly depressing!  I need to remind myself how much we have done here already to boost my ante-project-blues so will make an effort to post our projects so far and stay focussed on the long game.

Related links
Innex Design Limited
http://www.facebook.com/innexdesignltd
@InnexDesign
T: 01925 630361

Let’s call this Plan A as this is the developed scheme from the original outline plans shared back in May.  The alternative to this is the Wildcard Property Scheme I posted a couple of weeks ago.  I am keeping my thoughts in a jar to myself just for the purposes of being inpartial in sharing these plans without influencing your feedback.  So let’s have a look at Plan A and start with the ground floor shall we?

So the outline footprint remains the same, extending to the left of the property to build an integral garage and create an open kitchen, dining, living space and also extending the current living room.  In the very first “starter for ten” idea, there was an office at the rear of the property.

Our feedback to Innex Designs was that we wanted to have a dining space that was more than a breakfast bar.  The family room is now at the center of the house creating a dining space.  Also that we felt that the having an office overlooking the garden could be distracting and given Mr L sometimes has suppliers visit it would be good for them to not have to subjected to full on family life!  You’ll see we have pinched some of the current living room to create an office to the right of the front door.

Before we talk about upstairs, have a look at the first floor plans and look at the glass roofs in the newly extended part of the lounge and also the kitchen allowing full height wall cupboard space in the kitchen without compromising on natural light.

So upstairs we go … four bedrooms is the requirement and our feedback was about seeing if we could get more bathrooms, having a son and daughter two years apart I predict bathrooms being important!  What is our current bedroom remains unchanged but becomes Diva G’s bedroom, this potentially could be an isolated project that we could do prior to starting the hardcore part of the redesign.  The roof to the current toilet is lifted to incorporated the limited height space which is currently Lil H’s wardrobe  to create an en suite.  The current bathroom and Diva G’s bedroom come together to create a fourth bedroom and a hallway to a master bedroom suite.

So that’s Plan A, the alternative to the Wildcard scheme.  They are two very different plans I think, credit to Chris and the team at Innex Design for having the vision to see two very different and both great homes from the 1960’s property we live in today.  Absolute proof of the value a great architect can add to a project.  We’d be no where near this vision without them so a round of applause for Innex Design please.  Then your feedback please and it is the big one  – which plan would you choose, plan A or the Wildcard and why?  If you were looking to buy a house and saw these two properties as estate agent details which would appeal to you and your family more?  I genuinely cannot wait to hear your thoughts!

Having a smart phone, I have an iPhone 4S, has made the work I do and the life I am able to lead possible. If the business word was still wedded to paper and office bound working my life would be very different. Fundamentally I have a computer in my pocket.

The difference the touchscreen has made in the world we live in in the last five years is so significant as I was surfing and thinking of home technologies and future considerations I came across this video – the possibilities! Wow! It blew my mind. A. Lot! Take five minutes and see what you think…

P.s. If Corning want a demo house happy for them to install at mine ;-)