Sympathetic and sensitive design can make it possible
Development in the open countryside
We choose to live and work in the rural part of Dorset with many projects being situated in the open countryside or in small settlements where in planning terms they share the same restrictions.
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So we understand the considerations and can often help make development in the open countryside or on rural sites a reality.
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Sympathetic, considerate and appropriate design is vital to making this happen and we can guide you through the process and develop proposals that we feel are likely to have a good chance of gaining planning permission in rural areas.
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Bracken Cottage
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​​The design for this new house was all about the views and its rural setting.
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Theo Green Designs were engaged by the clients in early 2015 to design a sustainable replacement dwelling. The fabric of the existing building was in a poor condition and not suitable for renovation or conversion so replacing the dwelling was the only real viable solution. The site is in an elevated position with views over the rolling hills down to the Jurassic coast.
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​The brief was to design a modest and energy efficient new home that would take advantage of the sea views from the site and the south-west facing aspect. It was also very important to the clients that the building was going to be appropriate to its rural setting and sit comfortably on the site. ​The house is traditional in its form and character with a simple palette of materials that reflect the sustainable ethos of the building. ​
Its visibility from the Iron Age hill fort of Lamberts Castle was a major consideration in the design, needing to ensure it was low key in the landscape. British larch cladding has weathered to a soft grey to ensure that this has successfully happened. Flint is used for the ‘plinth’ to anchor the house into its sloping site and natural slate is used for the roofing.
Passive heat gains from south facing windows have helped this building to have extremely low energy requirements and we worked with the site topography to make use of the space below the house created by stepping the plan.
Melplash Farm Holiday Cottages​
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Within a paddock in the listed Melplash Farm the clients wanted to build two new holiday cottages in this rural village, to add to their other exisiting holiday lettings on site.
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Care had to be taken with the positioning and landscaping to ensure minimal affect on neighbours or the rural landscape. Vernacular rural materials of stone, timber and slate are used to speak to the rural buildings surrounding these cottages. The slates are actually solar slates, combining a heritage look with contemporary technology. These cottages also run on air source heat pumps.
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Bredy Cottage Garden Studio
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Located near to the West Dorset village of Burton Bradstock the building was constructed in 2016.
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​The client came to us wanting to build an environmentally friendly detached garden annex to replace the dilapidated garage.
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The key to this project was coming up with a design that provided enough space for the client’s needs whilst ensuring the building remained low key and appropriate to its setting in a conservation area and AONB so that it would gain planning approval. The building’s form also needed to be able to accommodate the green construction materials and technologies that were so important to the client.
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The resulting design was for two intersecting forms over two split levels which respond to the contours of the site and minimise the amount of excavation required.
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This larch and slate clad timber frame structure is triple glazed and has been insulated using wood fibre insulation, a by-product of the timber industry ensuring the building has a minimal environmental impact. With lime plaster used internally the walls and roof can breathe and the result is a better living environment internally in which water vapour is naturally regulated.
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