The clients for this house had long held the dream of building a contemporary family home in the garden of his mother’s house. With a very tight budget and a previous attempt by another Architect that had been refused Planning, they turned to us. The brief was to create a contemporary home that would be granted planning, be highly efficient, sustainable and affordable. It was to be light filled with a mix of dynamic open plan spaces flowing out into the garden and quiet private areas including 4 bedrooms, storage and service areas. Low maintenance and minimal running costs were also a priority. We worked closely with the client and Planning department to find a sensitive yet exciting solution for this wonderful garden site between two listed properties. The house sits within the existing stone garden walls, which were adapted and extended to work with the new design. The timber clad first floor appears to float over these walls. Zinc completes the palette, separating the cedar from the stone and providing a contemporary sustainable finish to the roofs. The house was built in timber frame construction to a very tight budget which goes to show that bespoke contemporary designs can be affordable and are worth considering, even in the most conservative and sensitive of locations. It is extremely well insulated and achieves very good levels of air tightness. High specification glazing, carefully orientated and combined with building mass, super insulated walls and underfloor heating creates a wonderfully comfortable and efficient house all year round, with a real sense of connection to the garden. The kitchen, dining and living form one continuous space, defined into different zones to provide a practical and modern solution to family living. Plenty of hidden storage makes it easy to keep the living areas tidy.