Our Highgate project is really taking shape much to the delight of the Nuttall family who have been popping by to see what has been happening to their old home and getting to know the craftsmen who will actually be building their new home.
Demolition is now complete and the groundworks contractor who will be building the basement for the second phase of the work is ready to start. The tree surgeons have been busy pruning the large trees at the front of the house to make sure we have enough room to put our site office in situ as well as all the steel sheet piles which will form the walls of the basement. This is the first time we have designed and built an underground swimming pool so we are really looking forward to it taking shape.
The demolition of the old house went well and to schedule. So far the weather has been fantastic; a real dream for construction so it hasn’t stopped play. You can never tell of course what turn the weather will take so fingers crossed it remains good for the rest of the summer and into the autumn.
We have removed the original front gates to the house and stored them in the garden. They may not grace the new house but the Nuttalls may want to retain some of the memories. We will need to increase the width of the opening to the site to ensure we have enough space to manoeuvre vehicles into the property so temporary gates will be erected.
Our Director of Architecture George Legg is working closely with Nuttalls at every stage to make sure they are happy with the designs and construction. Facit’s houses are often compared to the German Huf Haus or a prefab kit house – we are neither! This is custom build at its purist. Many clients chose us precisely because we are a British entrepreneurial company and based in London – our homes don’t come over from Germany on a lorry. They are built either on site or in our workshop in Hackney.
Another first for this project is that we are treating ourselves to a larger site office as we will need a bit more room than usual to accommodate the number of people we need to work on the basement. That’s a few more people in the tea round then!
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