Floorplans for a Modern 3-Bedroom House Built in the Garden of a Cotswolds Home

When Trina Collins and Felipe Jauregui bought a small house in a pretty Gloucestershire town, they spent 18 months renovation, only to realise it was too small. The solution was obvious: build a new property in the garden. After five years of hard work, the couple have a stunning two-bedroom house, clad in black fibre cement with cantilevered sections, plenty of glazing, plus a separate living space and bedroom for Trina’s father to enjoy.

The first hurdle to overcome was planning permission. With their third idea accepted, the couple hired local architectural practice James Slater & Co, where their project designer was Guillem Bartolet. The brief was for a modern open-plan home, with a strong outside connection and bright rooms.

With a fair amount of renovation experience, the couple opted to take on the project management, hiring subcontractors as necessary. Their first thought was to use a SIPs system, but their finance options were limited. Instead, they chose timber frame with cement fibre board cladding – a pragmatic choice for their thin, angled, sloped plot. “It’s also quick to get weathertight and achieve high levels of insulation,” says Felipe. “The result is almost Passivhaus-standard. But it took us 18 months just to get finance.”

See the home

The roof is finished in cost-effective fibre cement tiles, but it is the glazing that really adds the wow factor to this property. “We wanted a high-end look, but not the maintenance of timber,” says Trina. As a result, they opted for aluminium frame windows from Schueco. Sustainability was important to the couple, so they explored a range of options to keep a lid on energy usage. Their highly insulated home has an MVHR system that recycles warmth, extracting heat from stale air before it’s expelled, then using it to pre-warm the fresh air coming in.