Architect's CLT Self-Build: From Dilapidated Garage to Sustainable Modern Home with Park Views

Living in a big city like London really takes its toll and I think that it's really important to be able to retreat to a safe space and I think that's what architecture represents to me really. My name is James Davis and I am an architect and director of Paper House Project and we are at Greenview House in Stoke Newington where I live with my partner Sophie and Dylan So originally this was a derelict garage that was connected to a mechanics shop on Allam Road and as far as we're aware it hadn't been used for nearly 20 years so it was very run down, it was dilapidated, overgrown and full of old tyres. I've lived in the area very close to Greenview House since 2010 actually and I was aware of this site because it overlooks the park and there aren't many sites like that available to build on in London so I was really interested in it and that allowed us to approach the seller directly and yeah we were able to secure the site off market which was really lucky because I think if it'd gone to open market we wouldn't have been able to afford to buy it really. It's a very very small footprint the site I think it's 40 square meters in total and that really was one of the design drivers I think trying to maximise the space and make a footprint as efficient as possible. I knew that the site next door was also derelict and also had planning approval. The owner was another architect Nicholas Langstaff from Langstaff Day Architects. We approached them to see if they would be interested in doing the builds together which I think in hindsight was a blessing really because logistically it's a very built-up site, access is restricted, lots of issues that we're able to simplify or circumnavigate by building at the same time as next door. The build-up was probably one of the stress points of the project but actually the installation days were probably one of the most exciting. It's the talk of the town you know there are lots of people supportive that these kind of derelict not very aesthetically pleasing garages were going to be turned into homes and yeah I think that was a real sort of point in the project where we kind of allowed ourselves to get excited. A wise person once told me that once you've resolved the vertical circulation or the staircases specifically then the rest of the layout usually falls into place and that was definitely what happened here. Our bedrooms are in the basement, it's very cool in the summer and it can be warmed quite easily in the winter, perfect for sleeping especially for someone like me that doesn't sleep very well and then our living space is at the top of the house. We've got views across Butterfield Green and we're essentially amongst the tree canopy, it feels like you're in a tree house. It's an ever-evolving changing backdrop you know the colours, the light, the foliage, the leaves. We've been here for 15 months now and so we've seen a full cycle of the park and that's really amazing to kind of feel that connection you know you sort of see the park change, the colours change, how light enters the building changes. It creates lots of moments in there you stop and appreciate the space that you're in. A priority and a non-negotiable really has been to try and make the house as thermally efficient as possible. We explored all the options really in terms of which green technologies might be most suitable for the size of the house, how we're going to use it. So we've got the air source heat pump and the solar panels which work together and then we've got our mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system so we've achieved some pretty high standards in terms of air tightness, in terms of u-values, in terms of the energy use. So the EPC which is Energy Performance Certificate is probably the most recognised benchmark for a building's energy efficiency. My understanding is that as of last year the average for a new build home in the UK was 84b but Greenview House has an EPC rating of 97a which felt like a big achievement. We've been in the property for over a year now so we can actually see that it's working and that's really really really satisfying because it means that I can with confidence now have those conversations with clients. It's an unknown for a lot of people and I think to work with an architect that has done that in their own home actually holds up quite a lot of weight for clients and so that's been a really positive upside that maybe hadn't fully appreciated before we started. In terms of the biggest challenges that we faced I'd be inclined to say that it's probably the things that you wouldn't expect. Some of the biggest ones actually happened before we even started before we even broke ground so our planning application was lost after the acne data breach so it meant that the planning application took over a year. We actually completed on the sale of the plot about three weeks before the first Covid lockdown. We saw the cost of labour and materials kind of skyrocket so I think from you know the day before purchasing the plot where we had all of our cost plans and a budget I think you know the day after almost it felt like you know prices had gone up 30 percent. Maybe some people would have decided to scale things back or make changes to help bring the costs back down but I think that probably would have entailed removing some of the most important parts of the project which are the green technologies or the carpentry yeah the finishes that you know we just felt were really really important to kind of do the project justice. The most important question isn't what you're building it's why you're building because if you know the answer to that question then when things get really really tough and they will I think that knowing the answer to that question why are you doing this project that's what gets you through. I think home the idea of home as a place as a sanctuary as a safe space I think is just so so important it's not something that everyone has the opportunity or gets the chance to do and that's kind of not lost on me so yeah I feel very fortunate to have been able to build Greenview House.