is this a change too far

I found myself with an unexpected 10 minutes to play around with the blog. Ben is quite upset and his exact words were........'ooooh..........ohhhhhh..............ummmmmm...........no'.

But given that Ben is adverse to even the slightest impulse change of any description I thought I would check with my loyal band of readers.

What do you think? I'm not entirely happy with it myself but if you think change is good I will invest a bit of time making the blog more 'Merry' (or less merry if I am getting on your nerves). None of the standard templates really got me that excited to be honest. I think I was just bored and now look what has happened!

I know there must be a 'look' I can use but if you were all happy with the old layout, colours etc I will stick to that. 

do let me know

m

ps - I woke up this morning feeling decidedly unsure - so have reverted to white and will definitely work on something better. 

the lovely new blog http://saniapell.com/athomeblog/

looks very similar to what I had in mind (I already have key and tape measure images that we have used in other brochures) - but obviously Border Oaky instead.

Better do some 'real work' now.

A house - from the drawing board to the plot (the construction equivalent of field to fork?)

When you 'buy' a house from Border Oak there is a veritable troop of people involved (some modestly beavering away behind the scenes - unlike myself who would trade in the family pet to appear in a lifestyle magazine apparently). 

The sheer amount of design work for each home is incredible and as we often build the house as well as make the frame we need to produce copious amounts of detailed and exact working notes and construction drawings. These cover every element of the build from drainage to site survey, bat housing to renewable technology, window arch detail to chimney top design. There is no other oak frame company that produces such intricate and knowledgable notes and drawings - because no one else builds the house from concept to completion. 

And so I thought I would show you just the teeniest glimpse into a 'real' project and what is produced by our amazing design office and fabulous builders.

Once the frame is designed (say between 8 and 28 A1 pages) and the construction layers drawn (another 50 odd pages - I know, quite mind boggling, just imagine you are a Border Oak project manager with up to 10 jobs on the go? That is a lot of paper in the back of your Audi estate. Imagine if one day you drove into flood water and your car got swept away holding all your files and drawings and computer and mobile and camera - unlikely, but true for poor project manager Dan.) Anyway where was I? And we also have to do the Building Regs  and apply and meet the Code for Sustainable Homes criteria (yes, we do all that and NHBC approval applications).......phew......anyway once all of that is done, Ed T can feed the info into  a whizzy magic programme and produce this clever little cut through.

He can also produce a visual 3d fly through which would give you a virtual experience of a house that hasn't been made yet. Isn't technology fabulous?

Well in truth these things don't make too much difference to the project but they are 'fun' I guess and can be quite educational and informative.

So wind the project clock forward 6 months later........and ta da! A real house to look at (which perhaps renders the virtual version obsolete?)

But in conclusion I think the two images show just how accurate our designers can be/need to be and how thorough the design process at Border Oak really is - not just in relation to the beautiful oak frame but for the whole project.

Obviously there are endless other design process involved in between these two stages. Not to mention 24 weeks of hard work on site and from our Project Manager (in this case Dan, but with a new car). Without all the specifics produced by the Border Oak drawing office I can bet you £500 that the 24 weeks would stretch to 44 (at least).

And did I mention my new obsession with stone work? I am helping with the finer detail of a lovely project faced in stone and now dream of brick window reveals and aggregate mortar mixes. Good job my fantasy/imaginary home (which if I keep blethering on about will one day come true?) is a mix of Herefordshire stone, oak and glass............

It's been too long!

Gosh, it feels like an age since I posted. A mixture of holidays and hard work have taken up the past couple of weeks and now I have so much to tell you. I will try to spread the news out over the next day or so.

As I write this I have Gardeners World on the TV in the background - for a good reason though. We've got a stand at Malvern this year, for the very first time. We have a beautiful potting shed and a circular gazebo on display and I spent the day there yesterday dodging the showers and admiring the show gardens.

And guess what? We won an award for our stand presentation! We didn't even know that the stands were judged so it came as a huge surprise to us all. Luckily a lady at the office has particularly green fingers and she has done a fabulous job. The judges said they loved our posh outbuildings and the simple palette of planting and gave us a few tips so that next year we might get a gold (apparently every plant pot must be hidden or covered). We did our best because we love making our exhibition stands look incredible but we really hadn't put specific effort into winning medals as such - because we didn't even know they would be inspecting us. Next time we will be prepared!

The Potting Shed also gained quite a following from garden designers and magazines and so watch this space for further developments. The gazebo was sold today for a Special Show Price of £4000. Pop over to the Malvern Spring Flower Show if you want to see what our wonderful craftsmen can achieve -its open until Sunday night.

The Artisan House - NEC 2011

Here are the photos of the completed Artisan House that we built at the NEC in 5 days. I thought you might like to see it.
The concept is pretty simple - a contemporary cottage that uses prefabricated 'cassette' panels to wrap around the internal green oak frame, insulated with recycled glass and incorporating a home office/studio for 21st Century Artisan's. We clad ours in kiln dried oak with a brick plinth laid with lime mortar.
The underlying aim was to make it highly thermal, natural, pragmatic and affordable so we up scaled the insulation, made it as airtight as possible, eradicated any thermal bridges, avoided any petrochemicals, toxic, or overly processed materials and used timber (all FSC certified), lime, clay and other natural materials that could be reused and were not environmentally harmful. The cost of a three bed (1400 sq ft) home (as pictured) is £112,000 fully built - but if you add in kitchens, bathrooms, decoration etc and all the renewable technology we used I think the COMPLETE house cost (ie ready to move in) would be about £160,000. That is pretty amazing for a home that meets CfSH level 4 and 5 I think.

We would love to hear your thoughts - things you like, things you are not sure about, what other features would you like to see in the expanding portfolio etc etc?

Anyhoo - here are some pics. I haven't added the photo of me being interviewed by Croatian TV - think Borat but with a lady (who asked me if the people lived in our houses with sheep and cows inside too). But maybe if you leave me enough comments I will post that picture too (don't get excited - its not that funny).

front  - the solar panels provide domestic hot water and the air source heat pump fires the underfloor heating

The oak pergola (or is it a verandah?) was a big success as it gave depth to the back elevation and was beautifully made. You can just see the PV panels in the middle - for electricity.

The projecting gable enabled us to have a family bathroom with space for a bath and a shower. The ensuite bathroom was huge so could be divided into dressing room/ bathroom. The jetty over the front door provides visitors with shelter and also adds projection and interest to the design.

The interior is light and simple - with just enough oak to give you the 'border oak' essence - without dictating the room.

Kitchen by DeVol - lights by Screwfix!

The woodburner was optioned as a back up heat source for our EPC /CfSH rating. We can get the house to level four (depending on plot specifics) or 5 (by using triple glazing and a few more renewables) but the basic fabric of the standard house is rated exceptionally well.

Painted windows in muted heritage shades, galvanised guttering, beautiful bricks, lime mortar and a rustic/modern edge are becoming some of Border Oak's trademark features.

And so I hope you like it - even if its not your cup of Earl Grey I hope it illustrates our craftsmanship and workmanship, and our commitment to building the finest sustainable homes for all sorts of people. Exciting times!

ps don't forget our Open House Day - April 22nd 10 am- 3pm.

open house day

Here is the invite to our 'open house' day on Good Friday. I do hope some of you can come.
We will be opening our house (based on the Pearmain Cottage) and the pretty oak framed cottage I blogged about for months - so you get to see a variety of cottages, new and old (well our house is 6 years old - does that equate to 'old'?) large and small (well, ours is about 1600 sq ft and the other house about 900 sq ft).

All you need to do is call the office (01568 708 752) and book a slot - Hannah will take your details and then send you directions.

We will have portfolios and brochures and a team of Border Oak people on hand to answer your queries.

Can't stop to chat though - I have a house to sort out!

farmhouse fantastic

I have some lovely friends who have recently completed their beautiful Border Oak home - and if you buy Ideal Home magazine this month you too can have a look at their wonderful oak framed farmhouse.

I have added some of the photos here, but there are lots more in the article itself. It has a vibrant, homely ambience that really jumps off the page - someone who visited their house recently even remarked to us that 'stepping inside was like being embraced in an oak hug' - high praise I believe! And even more wonderfully a baby is now on its way - thus proving the magical properties of a Border Oak home (I think that is a claim that requires independently verified scientific support - of which I have none). 

 The design is very classical Border Oak - one wing in full oak framing with a jetty (the sticky out upper level with lovely shaped feet and brackets), the other wing is SIPs and oak with a brick outer face.

The kitchen is arranged as a large living, cooking, eating space which works so well for families (and for entertaining I imagine - I have the same layout here but we never have people round, because Ben is not a social butterfly and finds it all a bit of a faff (aka as talking to people) , but my resolution for 2011 is to have lots of pals round and to drink lots of wine. Just to make sure that the open dining/cooking/living arrangement works of course - all in the name of research).

The hall way is open to the sitting room so both feel larger and less formal

Clever cupboards built into the eaves..........leading through to a posh en suite. My en- suite is just being painted (don't worry, by a professional not me) - so hopefully it will look clean, if not glamourous. Not sure is ANYTHING I have ever done could be called glamourous - maybe in the next house? I doubt it.

I like how the house is full of personality and fun - and I love this idea of a wall full of family and friends

I also love the big bold brave fabric choices - it works so well with the granite and the grey painted units.  My gorgeous new roman blinds by the ever amazing Marina (hello!) are ridiculously timid - stripes, plains and spots - all in grey, beige, cream etc. The nearest I got to crazy was a bit of floral - in french grey. I need to experiment.

Splashes of aqua thread the interior together which is furnished with a mix of inherited pieces and ebay finds - layers of textures, with some patina and resonance really work well with the new oak and natural materials I think.

And the plot is, quite simply, spectacular - on the edge of a beautiful village, large, with mature trees and surrounding farmland  = J-E-A-L-O-U-S

Rush out and buy yourself a copy of May Ideal Home - I shall be testing you all with a multiple choice exam.

The next post will be about the Border Oak open day (at my house and a nearby cottage) on Good Friday. And I also have a post to do regarding the NEC show - when I get the photos. And the website is crunching away (I think) along side our magazine/newsletter. So many balls in the air as usual! And I was supposed to be on holiday this week..............

more photos from the NEC

When I woke up this morning these photos were in my inbox - and as you can see it is pretty much finished! Well, as with all builds, it is the little fiddly bits that eat up the time and I know there will still be loads to do over the next few days but it is such a relief to see that the house is really taking shape.

This is the studio/office/utility/ground floor bedroom - which has a HUGE ensuite bathroom in the first floor. I think the solar panels are going on the roof.

I have been really worried about it being dark inside as some parts of the NEC are very gloomy. It seems that we might have a sunny patch though judging by the photo. I imagine it will still be dark even with all those windows.

In retrospect I should have asked for a four light window in the middle bay rather than the three light - as you climb the stairs it is a lovely feature (I have a four light version here at home)

But all in all our little eco house is looking fab - now I just have to pack 3 suitcases (one for me , one for each tiddler) make a cake, a cottage (he he he) pie (for mother in law who is coming to help out with childcare) pack the car (with all the props) print off about 50 photos, collect my dry cleaning and find some ribbon.............the list is getting shorter.

If I don't get chance to post before I leave, fear not I will be back next week with a show round up. Looking forward to meeting you all and getting my life back!!