Velfac UK - Case study: Timbers Woolverstone

Anna and Edward’s new-build in Woolverstone, Suffolk is a futureproofed, forever home with flush thresholds, ground-floor amenities, expansive doorways, an office on-site and an open, adaptable, light-filled design.

‘We knew somebody locally who had the right to buy on a lovely one-and-a-half-acre plot in the village with an old barn conversion turned bungalow on it,’ says Anna. ‘We took a punt and bought it off them.’

Anna is a maths teacher, Edward works in renewable energy and the designer of their new home, Timbers, was Anna’s school friend, Norfolk-based architect Juliet Moore.

One of the main reasons for buying the plot was because it was home to an ancient oak tree whose roots were being damaged by the existing – and now demolished - bungalow.

‘From the new house, we wanted to be connected to the garden and be able to see the tree from as many spaces as possible,’ says Anna. The brief was for a social space able to accommodate four coming-and-going, grown-up children and numerous friends and wider family. And, for the other times, when it was just Anna and Edward, the place had to feel warm and cosy.

The new home is made up of three volumes: a double height main block, a single storey office wing and a black cinder-clad cube between the two that contains the entrance, boot room and laundry room. There are four bedrooms, four bathrooms / ensuites, a main open-plan living space, two-storey, light-filled atrium, a green roof with sun tunnel, PV panels and triple glazing throughout.

‘The colliding pavilions housing the living, sleeping and amenities come together to form a dramatic central atrium and entry space,’ explains Juliet, ‘all with a view of the tree.’ She brings outside materials in: the cinder and cedar cladding from the different pavilions reaches inside, connecting exterior with interior.

The result is a bright and breathable home of beautiful angles, lines and shadows. ‘You can see different views and different parts from wherever you are,’ says Anna. ‘And, while the layout might seem complex, the house looks and feels simple and seamless.’

VELFAC windows and doors at Timbers, Woolverstone

‘We didn’t want triple-glazing at the outset,’ says Edward, ‘but another local architect friend recommended John Lewis at VELFAC distributor okoHaus, whose studio is just down the road from us. John got very good with price! And we’re grateful because the house now has an A EPC rating.’

John recommended VELFAC V200 Energy windows and a VELFAC Ribo glazed front door. ‘The VELFAC products offer good performance and have helped the property be as near to Passivhaus as possible,’ he says.

Anna, Edward and Juliet went for exterior frames in Jet Black and Signal White inside, switching to Leaf Green on the exterior front door and office window frames to zing out against the black cinder facades.

Anna and Edward couldn’t be happier in their forever home where Juliet has specified materials and landscape that will age gracefully; cedar cladding turning silver over time and a wildflower roof that will self-seed in perpetuity - all under the watchful gaze of the life-affirming oak.