This blog was intended to tell the story of one house to (hopefully) help others who might be thinking of building their own home. A couple of months after moving in I wondered if it might be helpful to share some reflections. Here are a few of the things I think I have learned, just in case it is useful.
... they are very, very big curtains. And getting them up was quite a thing.
A friend told me she felt at home in her new build house when she had hung her pictures and settled her houseplants. Copper Bottom has felt like our home for a while, but it felt complete this weekend when our painting, Freshwater, arrived.
We have finally moved in. It was actually about two weeks ago but I haven't had time to write a post until now - there has been a lot of unpacking and sorting. It has been a bit of a long haul, but worth it.
This must be one of the most common feelings for a client towards the end of a project. So nearly there.......
One of the things that we took out of our spec when we were doing some inevitable value engineering was our rainwater harvesting tank. I am glad that, after doing some research into how important they are, we decided to put ours back in.
Mick, our wonderful site foreman, and his team have done a great job paving the main terrace.
The picture window is revealed. We will be able to see the dreaming spires while we drink our morning tea in bed.
The TRA Roofscape Design Awards celebrate the ingenuity and technical skills of designers in the roofing sector. They recognise projects that showcase the highest standards in design, innovation, and sustainability in the use of timber trussed rafter roofs.
A spare piece of copper, a newly created font and a trip to see laser cutting in action in Birmingham. It all adds up to a bespoke house sign for Copper Bottom.
The scaffold has come down to reveal the crispness of the copper folds.
RIBA South East organised a visit to Copper Bottom this week. It was enjoyable, if somewhat daunting, to welcome so many fellow architects on site to see the work in progress.
Copper Bottom’s defining feature (other than its sustainability credentials) is its copper cladding. I talk to the man responsible for cloaking the house; Paul Saunders of Cotswold Metal Roofing.
Solar farms are an efficient source of renewable energy, but they can be controversial and are, in the eyes of many, rather ugly. The 37 panel solar array at Copper Bottom is effectively an invisible solar farm that uses no land.
As the process of cladding Copper Bottom begins, its sculpted form and dramatic colour are beginning to emerge. But being green is about more than the colour of the outside.
It hasn't been a great time to be installing a roof with non-stop rain for the last few weeks. But, on a rare day of sunshine yesterday, we ventured up to the roof to see how things are going.
The wooden trusses are going up at Copper Bottom, giving a sense of the angles the folded copper sheets will make when hung off them.
Copper Bottom is undoubtably an unusual shape. Architectural whimsy? No, says Adrian, the shape derives from the uses it serves, particularly environmental concerns.
Why would someone who "blooming loves concrete" choose a timber frame for his latest house? As Adrian explains, it's all about climate and carbon.
In our last blog we mentioned that we are using a timber frame at Copper Bottom.
Anyone who has been involved in a building project will know that having a good site foreman is key. We are lucky at Copper Bottom to have the absolute best in the form of Mick Bond. I visited site today to have a chat with him about his career and our project.
Our new house, Copper Bottom, will be fully clad in pre-patinated copper. Why? I asked Adrian to explain and he wrote this, pretty much a love letter to copper.
Our contractor, GC Interiors, have been clearing and levelling the site.
This one is a real Goldilocks site: within comfortable walking/cycling distance of Oxford’s city centre, and yet feeling as if it is deep in the countryside.
Copper Bottom is the new green vision from Adrian James, Director at Adrian James Architects.
