A rural home designed to house three generations under one roof

Cliff Farm is a Paragraph 79 home designed to house three generations of the client’s family under one sloped roof. The main two storey part houses the client and their children, and the single level wing is designed for their parents. The two wings are connected by a communal living and guest bedroom. The proposal has several possible arrangements, allowing for both communal living and privacy for the two families.

Influenced by the surrounding rural built typologies, the concept has been developed to meet both the requirements of the family whilst also creating a re-imagined and unique form. Combined also with locally sourced materials representative of the area, the proposal will bed itself into the surroundings. This local sourcing approach also minimises the overall embodied energy. The multi-disciplinary team of environmental experts have worked collaboratively to ensure the proposed design responds sensitively to the rural context. This approach aims to produce a home that is architecturally significant, providing an example of how contemporary, sustainable architecture can enhance its landscape.

This proposal aims to create a beautiful home using the resources that surround it. Understanding the local architectural language has allowed us to propose a credible reinterpretation that reflects the highest quality of design. This approach combined with sensitivity to the immediate setting will help raise the standard of design in rural areas and become a positive example of how to build a low embodied energy, low impact home on an isolated site of this nature.

Construction with natural materials

The use of hemp panels produced at Margent Farm, Cambridgeshire will be the first roof application of this material. The pure plywood structure ensures that the scheme can be kept open to work perfectly with its flexible programme, and referenced the historically significant Pine end works factory. The offcut pennant stone will be sourced from the Forest of Dean quarry less than 10 miles away, as will the timber cladding.

Multi-generational housing at Cliff Farm

The scheme has been designed in close collaboration with the client in order to ensure that Cliff House meets their short and long term needs. Adaptable walls within the structure mean that internal arrangement can change quickly and easily to adapt to the family as they grow. Long term planning is just as important, making sure the scheme is able to adapt to changing family combinations to increase the longevity of the building. The annex is designed to meet Part M3(4) requirements for wheelchair adaptable buildings.

Consultants

Udall-Martin Associates – Qualified Ecologists
Seed – Landscape Architects and LVIA consultants
Structure Workshop – Structural Engineers

Additional Specialists and Suppliers

Margent Farm – Hemp panel specialist
Forest of Dean Stone – Pennant Stone specialists and suppliers
Therma Fleece – Sheep Wool Insulation
Back to Earth – Wood Fibre Insulation Products

What is Paragraph 80?

Cliff Farm was built under Paragraph 79 (now Paragraph 80) of the National Planning Policy Framework. Find out more about our work with Paragraph 80 homes here, and get in touch if you think we can help you with your isolated home building project.

Explore our Paragraph 80 approved homes here.