Issue 5 - East Cambridgeshire District Council

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feature conservation areas Past modern Just because you live in a conservation area, it doesn't mean your property has to remain rooted in the past. Tony Taylorson finds innovation can create homes that enhance the area they inhabit So you live in your self-proclaimed castle, but something is missing. You look at your home and of course you love it, but something is not quite right. Is it the space, the windows or even the letterbox? It’s definitely one of them but what if to put it right means going through the complex and nightmarish world of building in a conservation area? This is a world where you assume nothing will be easy; it will be complicated, long, drawn-out and come the end of it, you will be left with something that may be functional, but wasn’t really what you wanted. To the great surprise of many, it doesn’t have to be like this. Throughout East Cambridgeshire’s 29 conservation areas, there are examples of where, with a bit of innovative thinking and 10 Before After east cambridgeshire magazine summer 2008 discussion, people have come up with designs to rival any TV property development show. Take Rob Assheton, for example. He lives in Burwell and had the dilemma of how to extend his cottage to take into account his growing family. “It was obvious that our home wasn’t big enough for us anymore, but we didn’t want to move from where we were happy. We needed an extension, but when we were told our original ideas would dwarf our existing home and we were unlikely to get permission, we knew we had to think a bit differently. “So with our architect, Graham Waterhouse, we looked closely at what was possible. My wife, Sarah, and I have always found ecological designs more interesting, and had an idea it Rob Assheton’s home in a conservation area in Burwell before the renovations... and how it will look when finished might be fun to build an earth-sheltered home on a hillside one day, but it hadn’t occurred to us it could work well on the edge of the fens. So, when Graham suggested an earth-sheltered extension, we were both really keen. It seemed like a great way to satisfy the constraints of the conservation area while getting a really interesting end result. “As well as looking good, there are benefits of building like this in terms of energy efficiency. The earth surrounding the building acts as a thermal store. A bit like the sea, the temperature of the ground lags behind the temperature of the air. This means in the winter, it has retained the heat of the autumn so requires less energy to heat it, while in the summer, it still holds onto the coolness of the spring. The technical term is ‘thermal flywheel,’ but it effectively means we will be able to maintain a given temperature with less energy. “One of the reasons we love living here is that we have great neighbours around us so it was important that our extension should be a good thing for them, too. If we had simply followed the obvious route of extending the same profile backwards from the road, it would have
overshadowed our neighbours to the north and made their home a lot darker, as their windows are not far from our boundary. “This is the main reason why our design sinks partly into the ground, giving a finished height less than half that of the existing cottage. We’re really pleased that their response to the design we showed them was that they are ‘very excited by the prospect of having such a totally cool house next door.’ Our neighbours to the other side have helped us out during the build, too. Everyone around us has been very supportive, and this really makes the whole process so much more enjoyable. “We are about a third of the way through the build at the moment, but I don’t want to set a feature conservation areas “A conservation area is an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance” The plans for the ‘green’ extension. Neighbours are excited about living next to such an interesting property. finish date because then we can’t be late! Once it’s done it will be a really lovely place to live with our family.” Rosie Burton, Conservation Officer at East Cambridgeshire District Council, agrees that building in a conservation area more often than not encourages innovation. “Conservation areas are all about managing change, ensuring we do
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Page 8 and 9: feature new recycling centre Recycl
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Page 24 and 25: feature days out Haddenham Steam En
Page 26: news from east cambs Maltings close
Page 29 and 30: Summary of 2007/08 accounts Details
Page 31 and 32: REFUSE Your weekly collection dates

Issue 5 - East Cambridgeshire District Council

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