Mr and Mrs Howard purchased a former egg farm in 1992, with a vision of building their future home. The site comprised a modest-sized 1950s bungalow which had an agricultural tie attached, a rundown chicken house and a range of outbuildings. As the farm had not been in operation for many years, Mr and Mrs Howard applied to the Council for the tie to be lifted, which it was without any objections.
“It was at this point we began to consider replacing the old bungalow with a new house for ourselves,” says Mrs Howard.
The couple had an American A-frame style, or a log cabin in mind to complement their woodland setting in Berkshire, so they travelled to North America for design inspiration. On return, Mr and Mrs Howard suggested their plans to their local Council, who unfortunately didn’t agree with their vision. So, they went back to the drawing board and began investigating other avenues to bring their ideas for their home to life, which included oak frame construction.
The architectural design process
Mr and Mrs Howard met with our Managing Director, Tim Crump, at a self-build event where they discussed ideas for their exciting project. The couple later arranged an appointment to view our show home, The Woodhouse, so they could experience and capture the essence of an oak frame home for themselves. Having fallen in love with both the unique design and the abundance of character, Mr and Mrs Howard decided to base their new build on our show home.
Using plans and elevations taken directly from The Woodhouse, the couple approached their local Council to discuss the possibility of replacing their existing bungalow. However, the planning department were not happy to support their approach of using a pre-designed house and preferred the design of a one-and-a-half-storey barn-style home that would mirror their rural location.
“We asked Tim to recommend a designer who could help us through the process, and he introduced us to John Williams, one of Oakwrights’ Regional Architectural Designers,” says David. “John visited our site and listened to our brief before putting forward an initial proposal. There were some revisions: the garage was turned into a utility room with space above to house an en-suite wetroom for the master bedroom. Following this, a formal planning application was made.”
The planning application process
The Council requested additional information, such as a visual impact appraisal and a landscaping plan. John also submitted a design and access statement to accompany Mr and Mrs Howard’s application, where he was able to make references to the local village design statement, which strongly supported new buildings of the type and style of home that was being proposed: buildings ‘incorporating interesting and sympathetic architectural details and features, using materials appropriate for the locality.’
“We were quite thorough in our research, and considered several other oak framing companies, but we kept coming back to Oakwrights and are glad we did,” explains Mrs Howard. “Not only did they handle the design side of things and supply our oak frame with a pre-cut roof, but we also chose to use their encapsulation system.”
Having carried out the pre-application discussion with the planning department prior to John’s formal submission, and taken account of the points raised by this, no other issues arose during the application itself.
Following their well-deserved planning approval, our teams worked with Mr and Mrs Howard to construct their beautiful Berkshire oak framed home.
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