Contemporary dream home
It’s a familiar story. Two young professionals trying to get onto the property ladder and wondering how they can break into the housing market.
But for Justin Metcalfe and Catherine Buttery, living at home with parents and saving for years simply wasn’t an option. This couple were looking to place firm roots and take the next natural step to start their own family.
The answer to their oh-so familiar predicament came in the form of a well-sought after plot on the biggest self-build site in the country. Graven Hill was offering a range of self-build and custom build plots (1,900 to be precise) in Bicester. With all the hype and media attention surrounding such a site, architect Justin Metcalfe came across the project while leafing through a trade magazine. He was instantly intrigued.
Catherine was working in London as a digital account director and Justin, a commercial architect, was based in Warwickshire. These first-time buyers viewed Graven Hill as a commutable middle-ground between their rental properties.
Justin explains: "I was reading a trade magazine about the Graven Hill project and it sounded great –affordable with planning permission all in place, plus it was fully serviced with the flexibility to design what we wanted. It sounded like all the legwork would be taken away from us.”
The couple registered an interest in the groundbreaking Graven Hill scheme in September 2016.
Justin says: “We put our deposit down and reserved our plot – number 36. Bicester seemed like the perfect place to put our roots down. The onus was on us to design our first property together and it seemed like the solution as we were struggling to pull together a deposit for a house anywhere. When we looked around in the area at existing houses we just didn’t have the cash or savings to purchase a house. We weren’t over ambitious, we simply wanted a decent-sized home with a small garden and an open plan, modern interior."
The Graven Hill Village Development Company gave buyers the chance to choose plots across the site where they would like to build their home. Justin and Catherine, like many buyers on the development, purchased a ‘Golden Brick’ package, which included the plot, the foundations built for them and a ten-year structural warranty.
"We wanted a family home with plenty of daylight with clean lines and finishes – we loved contemporary Scandinavian trends."
Justin explains: “We had to come up with the design and approval, which took about four to six weeks but Graven Hill organised all of the groundworks and foundations. We were given a ‘Plot Passport’, which gave us a rundown of the rules and regulations when building our home – we were given a lot of freedom but equally there were stipulations as to how high we could build the property and the kind of materials we had to use. Once our foundation designs were fully agreed this was priced up by Graven Hill and we were given a timeframe of when we could start building – the costs were added to the price of land, known as the “golden brick” and at that point we could exchange. It took three months to build the foundations and at that point we were legally completed - we officially became the owners.”
Full steam ahead
By early 2017, Catherine was pregnant with their first child and the couple began renting a property close to the Bicester site. But it wasn’t until May 2018, two years after securing their plot, that the couple finally took ownership of their site and began to closely examine their budget and chose BuildStore for their self-build mortgage. With plans to grow their family, they were keen to push ahead with the project.
Justin adds: “I was able to take on the design responsibility so that saved us a lot and we had a vague idea of cost. BuildStore seemed to have the monopoly on self-build mortgages so we went with them and they offered a great service. In hindsight, I wish we had also used an online estimating service to support with our budget as we’d heard from other self-builders that it really worked for them.”
With all the roads, footpaths, drainage and landscaping covered by Graven Hill, it was the couple’s responsibility to shape their own design and source tradespeople to handle all aspects of the build.
Between June to September 2018, Justin and Catherine chased quotes, manufacturers and found tradespeople, something Justin describes as a “constant battle” due to the quality control element and the wildly different prices provided by tradespeople.
Justin adds: “It has been a learning process. Although I am an architect I had never designed a residential property as I specialise in commercial. I began researching what other self-builders were doing and looked at current trends. We wanted a family home with plenty of daylight with clean lines and finishes – we loved contemporary Scandinavian trends.”
The couple stumbled across some Canadian designs during their research which they “fell in love with” and this inspired their three-storey home, which they modified and evolved over time.
“We really wanted to find a main contractor to handle all aspects of the build. The one we had been in talks with went insolvent so we had to return to the drawing board. We tried to look for other contractors but the costs were too high and simply unaffordable,” continues Justin.
“I was talking to a good friend of mine who is a quantity surveyor and he suggested we project manage the trades and agree costs and budgets individually. I was concerned as we were both working full-time however it made sense and would allow us to negotiate costs.”
When it came to materials the couple relied on their local Jewson branch in Launton. Justin says: “Jewson were absolutely amazing, they totally understood what we were trying to achieve in our project, delivering quotes and materials to our site with swiftness and ease. They moved heaven and earth and we couldn’t speak more highly of them. For us, being first-time self builders, they helped to negotiate on costs and took the stress away. We’ll be returning for our landscaping supplies.”
But while the couple decided on the best people and materials for the trades jobs, they had already found a provider to build their SIPs (structural insulated panels) system during a trip to a homebuilding show at Birmingham NEC. This kind of building system sandwiches insulation between two boards - usually oriented strand board (OSB).
This not only enabled them to build the house they wanted, it also allowed them to meet their Plot Passport requirements and removed the additional expense of a pile foundation. Comfort was high on the couple’s list and anything to improve the thermal and visual aspects of the build was a priority to them.
A SIPs system ticked all of the boxes when it came to creating an airtight home. The high level of insulation is integral to this kind of structure, preventing any air leakage or movement. The end result is lower energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Justin and Catherine added another layer of insulation – 40mm of rigid PIR (polyisocyanurate) helping to meet the required U-values to pass their SAP (standard assessment protocol) test to ensure it achieves a target CO2 emissions rating.
Award-winning
The couple scooped an award in the Build It 2019 Awards for Best SIPs Home 2019 for demonstrating the style, functionality and sustainability of a stellar SIPs home – a title they never sought and were pleasantly surprised to receive.
Justin explains: “We didn’t go into any of this to win awards but we were delighted with our SIPs supplier and we were happy to share our experiences and happy we’d chosen this airtight option for our home.”
But the couple didn’t stop there. The race was on to fit the roof and windows before autumn. They installed triple glazed windows in half of the property to keep the heat in and to block out depending on the climate. This kind of glazing can also keep noise out (acoustic) making it a comfortable space to inhabit without unwanted sounds entering the home. They also installed an MVHR (mechanical ventilation heat recovery) system to provide excellent indoor air quality and also deliver heat throughout the home.
The clever use of glass allows access to daylight through windows, doors and partitions throughout the property. Large sliding doors in their open plan kitchen on the ground floor have proven to be a great way to create a wall of light and help bring the outside, inside.
The couple’s thoughtful design has truly paid off. The detached four-bedroom house is flooded with natural daylight, achieving a bright and airy feel. A glazed gable off the main bedroom on the top floor allows natural light through thanks to a high 4.5 metre pitched roof – an indulgent space which features a en-suite and dressing area.
Elsewhere, there are three small double bedrooms – two at the front and a guest room at the back –spread across the three-storey detached home, which has a modern and contemporary feel without feeling clinical – a comfortable space with underfloor heating on the ground floor and an overhanging roof for solar protection.
Justin and Catherine truly embraced features of passive building design by cladding their self-build in brick and ventilated timber. The timber exterior remains one of their favourite features, alongside the bright and airy atmosphere inside.
“We really wanted stained timber cladding (Siberian Larch) which can last for 15 to 20 years without treating. Longevity was key to us. We considered a black stain on the timber but with two children and a busy work life, we didn’t want to spend our weekends treating the timber – it’s pretty labour intensive. We are pleased we left it untreated. Every elevation has weathered differently and the east elevation has a silvery look. We love the way it will change and evolve over the years.”
The couple moved into their dream home in October 2019. Although there is still some landscaping to finish, the couple are delighted with the final result.
“It was a mad rush to get everything completed. Catherine was pregnant during the last part of our build and when our rental contract ran out in March 2019 we had to stay with family for a few months so it was important to get this finished,” adds Justin.
He ended: “There have been challenges and loops to jump through at times and we’ve spent over our anticipated budget – the biggest costs are those finishing touches – but we’re so pleased with the end result. It’s a comfortable home. Thanks to some of the Passivhaus principles we adopted we’ve found that on a winter’s day you really get the benefit of the sunshine with no need for heating and a constant, as well as a comfortable, temperature due to the MVHR system. It really is the family home we wanted and meets all of our needs.”
"We didn’t go into any of this to win awards but we were delighted with our SIPs supplier and we were happy to share our experiences."
Our self-build advice
- Everyone has watched Grand Designs and the reality of self-building is true: you do need to be prepared to get your hands dirty. If you are willing to give anything a go, it can really help your project when it comes to cost-saving.
- Make sure you have a strong network of friends and family readily available for childcare support, hands-on help and to lend an ear during challenging periods.
- Be prepared to do a lot of research, talk to lots of suppliers and see where you can save money. It’s important to have a budget framework so try using an estimating service to produce a cost plan so you can have target budgets to hand for your self-build.
Follow the couple’s journey on Instagram.