The Design: The design brief is for a single family dwelling of a conventional nature comprising two storeys of accommodation. The applicants wish to develop the site for their own use and the design of the house should therefore match the family’s own specific requirements with regard to size, extent of accommodation etc. The design brief includes a garage sufficient in size to work as a versatile outbuilding reduced in size from the existing double garage. It is also an objective to achieve as large as possible a garden to the new house, by creating a sense of open space. The combination of these factors underpin the principle of the house plan and its location within the site; a linear arrangement running roughly north/south and set slightly to the west side. The existing garage is unattractive, but located in an appropriate functional position on the site. The proposals choose to replace the existing garage, to make it more attractive and consistent with the design of the new house, and relocate the garage a few metres South of its current position. The form of the building has been arrived at in order to keep the overall mass of the building to a minimum whilst working with sustainable materials and an approach to avoiding solar gain through the use of large eaves and profiled verges. The use of zinc as a roof material allows for the curved ridge and profiled verges. The introduction of the curved ridge reduces the overall height of the building by 500mm as opposed to a more traditional pointed ridge. The zinc roof will soon develop a patina which results in a simple, stylish roof. The walls are to be a mixture of brickwork, render and vertical timber cladding to the ground floor with vertical timber cladding to the walls of the first floor. This serves to break up the massing of the building and to introduce a softness to the entrance and the first floor. The first floor accommodation takes advantage of good views over the surrounding countryside. There are balconies on the East and West elevations to take advantage of the views to the North and West.