We now have a fantastic impression of the size and shape of the house from the shuttering which Joe and team have constructed. This ‘wooden box’ around the footprint will house the foundations. Because the house will be earth-sheltered and sunk down so far below the original ground level, Joe’s challenge is to make a […]
We have felt the creative juices flowing this week and we put it down to the lovely spring weather we’re enjoying. After a short lull on site, as we sweated profusely to finalise the technical drawings with Baufritz, the building action has started up again. During Operation Escarpment, Joe, Amy and the groundwork team created […]
We love our poochy pals but we’re building a virtually air tight house. Why should that matter, you might say? Because it begs a question: should a new-build house dictate the way you live or support your lifestyle? This little stumbling block cropped up whilst we visited Baufritz’s factory in Germany for our week of sampling. We’re […]
Did you know that over three million people watch Grand Designs, 100,000 subscribe to websites announcing available plots of land, and a similar number buy self-build magazines?* Or that by contrast, just 12,000 self-build homes are completed in the UK each year – or 7.6 per cent of new housing supply?** Reading these figures, we’re well […]
Do you think it’s desirable, or even possible, to be green and hi-tech on an everyday basis? As the name of our blog implies, the aim of our project is to find greener ways to live and build. Through our build choices, we hope to show readers and visitors to Sky House Sussex that ‘green’ […]
These photos will hopefully give you a clear picture of exactly what we mean by ‘earth-sheltered house’. This is one of many exciting design features of Sky House Sussex: the lower (or ground) floor of the new house will be built two metres down into the hillside. As visitors arrive at the entrance to the […]
Christmas Eve 2013 and it’s all quiet on the site for the start of the holiday season. We wanted to express our gratitude to our neighbours for their patience during this project. It was fun creating the sign with a neighbour’s daughter and her friend who enthusiastically jumped into the paints! From the start of […]
This phase of the project prompted an uncomfortable question: can ground works ever be green? At first glance, the answer would seem to be a resounding ‘no’. But in this case, will the end result justify the means? This is the 13 tonne baby that arrived in Lewes recently to start excavation. Standing like a great […]
After months of nervous anticipation of the green light from planning, it was now time to consign the old house to history. Having lined up our demolition team we were then beset by unforeseen delays (aren’t they always?). Firstly, it had taken longer than expected to get the gas pot-ended. Shockingly it took the equivalent […]
Finally, the time has come to clear the decks and discover the hidden jewels of this plot. All this time, the future view and potential of the site have been a mystery as the existing house in its current location dampened the experience. The plot is shaped like a slice of pie and the bungalow […]