Modern Townhouse in the Heart of York

Years of planning and compromise have rewarded Stuart Lawton with the home of his dreams in a dazzling city centre location. But the tight site and awkward access were difficult hurdles to overcome
Heather Dixon
by Heather Dixon
14th April 2015

It cost Stuart Lawton almost £65,000 plus six years of meticulous planning before he was granted permission to build a modern four-storey house next door to one of the oldest buildings in York. Initially, his audacious plan was to turn a former car park into the site of two modern townhouses, but the proposal sparked controversy and opposition among those who thought the development would be inappropriate for the compact city centre site.

The high-tech home, with its spacious rooms and minimalist decor, was always going to be a contemporary building among its historical neighbours and it cost Stuart ‘blood, sweat and tears’ – as well as a large chunk of his budget – to get his plans off the ground.

By this time Stuart had spent 18 months engaging a team of experts to support his plans, including an architect, specialists from English Heritage and the York conservation department, a planning consultant and the highways department.“I had been looking for a house to buy in the centre of York for a long time, but couldn’t find anything I liked. Then I heard about this site and first went to see it in 2000. It was then that I discovered that the car park was held in a trust,” says Stuart. “I had worked in finance for 20 years and knew the trust could be broken. After long negotiations, I managed to buy the car park and break the trust in April 2004.”

Fact file
  • NameStuart Lawton
  • LocationYork
  • ProjectSelf-build
  • StyleContemporary
  • Construction methodBrick & block
  • Plot cost£200,000
  • House size297m²
  • Build cost£800,000
  • Build cost per m²£2,694
  • Total cost£1,000,000
  • Current valueIn excess of £1,000,000
  • Construction time9 months

“I needed the support of people who knew what they were doing,” says Stuart. “The car park was in one of the most beautiful conservation areas in York and all the surrounding properties are grade II listed (apart from the Dutch House, which is grade II*). I was fully aware that it was never going to be a straight forward planning application.”

Off to battle

One of the strengths of Stuart’s proposal was that the number of cars on the site would be reduced from 17 (when it was a car park) to three or four private parking spaces. “I thought the best way to get my ideas past planning was to employ specialists in a number of fields so that all potential points of contention were covered,” says Stuart.

To this end, he spent £17,000 on a planning consultant and a further £10,000 on an archaeological dig, going down to a depth of 1.5 metres. He even spent £1,400 on a balsa wood architect’s model to show the planning authority all aspects of his proposals. With everyone on board, and the planning officer ultimately recommending approval, Stuart thought consent was a done deal.

“After a three minute discussion the council unanimously rejected my ideas. There was no rhyme or reason to the decision,” says Stuart. “My heart sank. I thought all my money had gone down the drain and that I would be left with nothing more than a car park. But I refused to be beaten and decided that I would keep going back until I achieved my goal.”

After meeting with a new conservation officer, Stuart decided to swap two smaller properties for one large, contemporary family home. His plans were passed, an appeal was averted and Stuart could finally justify the tens of thousands of pounds he had spent on planning.

But Stuart’s challenges were only just beginning. He was determined to create a top quality home that would justify the initial expense and time already invested, and set out with a flexible budget. His aim was to create a high-tech, high-spec four-storey home with a viewing room on the upper floor and an open-plan kitchen diner kitchen opening onto the courtyard on the ground floor. A glass and steel staircase through the centre would form the backbone of the property and create a light tunnel through the house.

“Light was always going to be an issue,” says Stuart. “The house has 14ft high boundary walls on three sides, so the views had to be created inside.”

Construction tales

The build began with 28 piles (55ft deep), which were topped with meshed concrete foundations. “I had budgeted £9,000 for these but they ended up costing me six times as much,” says Stuart.

After that, he made sure everything was quantified and costed precisely, including the Belgian Hanson bricks, Rosemary roof tiles and Danish powder coated aluminium windows. Every small detail – from the location and quantity of sockets and light fittings to the positioning of the furniture – was itemised and isolated as he worked ‘from the inside out’ to ensure everything slotted perfectly into place at each stage of the construction.

“One of the things I really wanted was an all-singing, all-dancing technical system,” says Stuart. “Everything operates at the touch of a button, from the fire in the sitting room and the window blinds to the sound system, which can be filtered into individual rooms throughout the house.”

To reduce noise pollution, he installed apartment level rubber membrane sound insulation, specifically sealed within each room, along with over-spec heat insulation in all the walls and floors.

Logistics

One of the major challenges of the build was delivering materials to the site. The house sits in a courtyard off a narrow single lane road, so there was very little room for vehicle manoeuvre, skips or storage. Most of the waste was taken away in trailers on a daily basis. With little room for scaffolding, the house was built floor-by-floor until the roof was brought onto site in five separate sections and assembled in situ.

Weight was also a consideration with the £20,000 sitting room fire and bespoke slate chimney breast, which were so heavy that the floor had to be reinforced with a 3.5m x 1m concrete slab. Stuart’s partner, Hilary Pickard, helped to pick the rest of the interior fittings.

She wanted clean lines in the kitchen and bathrooms, along with white tiles and units which would reflect, rather than absorb, precious light. Steel, glass and wood is evident throughout, to give a high quality finish.

“We never thought we would reach the point where we would actually be spending our first night in the house,” says Stuart. “When we did, in May 2011, I couldn’t believe how calm and quiet it was. Our last house was a 220-year-old stone cottage in a village so it was a complete change of lifestyle to move into the centre of York. I had expected to hear people and traffic, but it was as still and quiet as the countryside.”

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