Andrea worked closely with an initially sceptical local authority, which limits extensions to homes in the Green Belt to 75 per cent of the original building. Making use of Permitted Development and the new ‘Class AA’ provisions she managed to gain approval for a much larger home. Clever design techniques have been used to reduce the building’s impact on the Green Belt.

The new building – increasing the volume of the original bungalow’s living quarters from just under 1,000 cubic metres to 4,323 cubic metres – will hide a substantial amount of its additional space in the basement, where there will be a glass-walled wine cellar, a sauna, shower room and generous home gym. The open plan family room will boast a 6.5m high vaulted ceiling and a covered outdoor lounge with open fire and brick chimney – perfect for chillier summer evenings. Four of the bedrooms – all en-suite – will be on the first floor and the attic will house a generous fifth bedroom suite complete with balcony.

The family lived in a caravan on the site for a year while the house was created. All inert material from the old industrial buildings was recycled and rubble used as hard standing for the site. The land was reclaimed and topsoil brought in. A pond was created to take the site’s rainwater. As the site is on sandstone, deep foundations were not possible, so the house is built upon a solid slab.

Due to the constriction imposed by surrounding buildings, Andrea decided to “flip” the house so that the main, open plan living spaces are upstairs, where the vaulted ceiling allows light to flood down the staircase, even to the bedrooms on the lower level.

A raised ground floor was incorporated to overcome the flood plain issue.

Samantha, who managed the project herself, used local builders and sourced materials from the nearby area, from the concrete to the conservation approved bricks.

The structure, featuring French oak, was manufactured off site and transported to Chenevare Mews piece by piece.

The energy-efficient building used the latest construction techniques but, because of restricted access to the site, the 2m deep foundations had to be laid through hand-digging, alongside the use of a mini digger.

Working closely with the builder contracted for the job, Andrea agreed that it was possible to demolish the existing house and create a brand new home, exactly to the family’s specification, at very little cost difference.

This took into account that there is no VAT on new homes, whereas there is on extensions.

Andrea turned her hand to designing the family’s dream home, using the existing foundations, drainage and underground services for the new building, with a huge cost saving.

Andrea worked hard to make sure that the orientation of the large, five-bedroomed new house made the best use of sunlight and privacy from the nearby road.

The building is timber clad and, on entry through the front door, visitors are met by a long glazed corridor.
There is a galleried landing and vaulted ceilings.