Suddenly, there is a lot more to see on our project at Highgate as we now have the Facit Chassis frame completely built and the internal timber walls are going in. The concrete screed has been completed on the ground floor and all the windows including the huge bi-folding door at the back of the property are in place. The roof slates are fixed and now the plumbers and electricians can start on drawing through cabling. In a couple of weeks the basement will be waterproofed so the pool enclosure can begin to be built. Everything has gone pretty well so far. Our team assembling the Facit Chassis has been brilliant and really quick. We were a bit nervous about getting the bi-fold door at the right level with the floor screed so Alastair, our design and build coordinator, and site manager Joe paid particular attention to marking out and checking the levels. At present we have around six people working on site assisted by specialist subcontractors on a daily basis. George, our director of architecture, ensures the team has a good set of construction drawings to work from while also continuing to manage the budget and keeping an eye on the programme with the site managers. We’re in constant contact with our client Anya, who pops down about twice a week. At the moment we are tying up finishes including bathrooms, floors and joinery so there’s a lot to discuss. We are also looking at materials for the external cladding for the ground floor and have found some interesting options which we are costing out. All being well we are still on track for completion towards the end of the year.

Work in leafy Highgate continues apace and now the basement concrete work has been completed so it’s no longer looking quite like the muddy building site it was before. The ground floor steel deck and concrete above has now been poured and the ground floor slab at the front of the building has been completed. Above ground we are completing the drainage around the perimeter of the building and tidying up the site in preparation for the next stage of the build. We have decided that for the first time in three projects we are going to build our classic Facit Chassis on site. This means having the engineered plywood delivered to the site which will then be cut and assembled into the component parts. These will be immediately located in the correct position on the slab and then eased into place by the erection team. The Facit Chassis allows for the neat separation of electrics, insulation and plumbing into different cavities. This creates flexibility for our construction team, and helps avoid any delays. This working method will make the whole production process more efficient then manufacturing the component parts in our London workshop and transporting them to the site thus reduces the carbon footprint of the build. Offsite we are developing the designs for the swimming pool area and have been discussing the detail with our client Anya and the pool Subcontractor at Design Works in Clerkenwell. We picked out a set of tiles and finishes for the pool area which was a nice change from looking at building materials. We’re also finalising fixtures for the bathrooms and will be starting to look in more detail at joinery and floor finishes too. Fingers crossed again for some pleasant weather as we begin the next very important stage.

We are definitely on the home straight with our second London home about to be finished, on time and on budget. The scaffolding has just come down to reveal the sustainable cedar cladding which looks as if it actually glows in the evening light! We’re starting to move to the finishing and then decorating which will mark the beginning of the final push to complete the wonderful contemporary interiors. We’ll also be turning our hand to the external landscaping. It’s unbelievable to think that there is just over five weeks until completion. Inside the all-important kitchen is 60 per cent complete. The carcasses are in and we are waiting for the decoration and flooring to be completed before we install the gloss white, touch to open doors and finish it off with a granite work surface. The bathrooms are also well on the way. Owners Jim and Mary have gone for a neutral palette of warm grey floor tiles and matt white wall tiles and we are in the midst of finalising some bolder colours for the walls that will give each bathroom a different feel and look. Jim and Mary are of course really looking forward to moving in to their truly unique house. As we are always keen to point out, Facit homes’ aren’t off the peg and don’t come all the way from Germany like a Huf Haus. Our projects are home grown and the component parts have travelled the short distance to South Woodford from our workshop in Hackney adding to the property’s sustainable footprint. Looking along the street line now it’s hard to imagine the small bungalow that once stood on the plot. The new house has already proved a source of intrigue in the street and now it’s about to be lived in we’re sure it will remain a talking point for some time.

Once excavations begin on a site there’s no knowing what you’ll find. In the process of lowering the ground level to create a space for the “blue beast” of a piling machine, our groundworks contractor found a wartime bomb shelter under the driveway. There are hundreds of these still around London but it took a while to excavate it as it was understandably very strong having been reinforced with concrete to protect its temporary inhabitants 70 years ago. A 50 tonne crane has also arrived on site so after a few quiet weeks, when surveys and monitoring was being carried out for the party wall agreements, we are all set for action this autumn. The hard core piling matt has been laid, the building set out and the piling has started. When Anya has visited the site she has been surprisingly pleased to see the muddy hole appearing as it means work is progressing. “It’s amazing what‘s been happening,” she says. “The massive 11 metre piles have been pushed into the ground, it’s fascinating.” The couple’s eldest sons have been disappointed that they are missing out on the action now they are back at school during the day but they still like to walk by when they can to check out their new home. Initially Anya and Robin thought they would be able to preserve some of their garden, however, seeing the size of the machinery and the remodelling that’s taking place they’ve realised that it’s just not going to be possible. So they will start from scratch and appoint someone to carry out external landscaping to tie in with the house when the work is finished. The Nuttalls have also agreed the basement design and have appointed a pool company. The preparation for the basement wasn’t straight forward as every hole for the piling had to be pre-drilled due to the hard ground. However, whatever comes along we know how to deal with it, that’s the essence of custom-build. Anya and family have settled into their temporary home nearby very well. It’s a classic Victorian home with six flights of stairs! While there are four floors in the new house the basement won’t be in daily use and the living space will all be on the ground floor and the master bedroom is just upstairs so perhaps they’ll be getting a little less exercise! Thinking of the new house reminds the family just how spectacular it’s going to be.

It’s amazing how much interest in our work a programme like Channel 4’s Grand Designs creates wherever we are working on one of our projects. The passers-by are very interested in the build progress and often stop to ask what we are building, how long it will take to be finished and if it’s a “Grand Design”! Our South Woodford house is no exception. The build progress has been good and we’re on track which always is great news in spite of periods of wet weather. The building is now water tight and the cladding is starting to go onto the outside. The first fix for electrics and plumbing is complete and the plastering well underway. It’s definitely starting to look like a fantastic new home! Walking around the site, you start to get a feeling of how light and grand some of the main spaces will be – it’s very satisfying to see it all taking shape, the clients are starting to get very excited as the fixtures and fittings such as the bathroom go in. The Photo Voltaic panels have now been installed and commissioned, which also marks the completion of the roof. Meanwhile, our client has signed off all of the sanitary ware, flooring and kitchen, which means we’re gearing up for the big push to start transforming the building site into a beautiful home.

At last we can see the house taking shape after spending the best part of a year poring over the plans. Having prepared the ground, the insulation and underfloor heating pipes for the ground floor slab were laid in three days (impressively quick!) followed by the concrete. Passers-by and neighbours have also been watching the progress with interest. Now it’s full steam ahead! The production of the Facit Chassis (what we call the skeleton of the house) was being made in tandem in our workshop in Hackney, unlike a Huf Haus that has to be transported from Germany. Once the slab was poured, we delivered the components to South Woodford. Due to the tight size of the site, we have established an efficient storage sequence so that the components we need first are close to hand. The first floor and roof components were delivered to site once the ground floor walls had been installed and more space had been created. The next challenge will be installing the roof beams due to the actual height of the ceilings, but we have calculated this well to ensure that we have a thorough and safe method for getting them into position. We should have the overall structure including the roof complete by mid September and then it’s fingers-crossed for a few weeks of an Indian summer.

Even before we begin to sketch out a design we talk through lots of scenarios and wish lists with our clients. For our Highgate project, one of the reasons Anya and Robin wanted to rebuild was that their existing layout was very restrictive. Facit architect George Legg  described it as “cellular and fragmented” especially on the ground floor where there was a dominating circulation space in the middle, positioning the rooms quite far away from each other. So the aim of our new design was to have more interconnectivity internally allowing free movement between rooms on all floors.   When we started to demolish the old house we realised that its construction was rather poor so knocking it down and starting again really was the best solution. Light is big factor. The basement swimming pool backs on to the garden so we’ve included roof lights along one side which will let in masses of natural light. On the first floor, the hallway runs from front to back along the spine of the house with light flooding this space through windows from the both sides as well as above. Bedrooms positioned at the front and back will have generous, tall windows while the largely open plan arrangement of the ground floor will make the most of changing lighting levels as the sun moves around the house front back to front. The advantage of a bespoke building design is that we can consider who is actually going to live in the house; it’s not a generic “off-the-peg” family. For the Nuttalls, it was important that their three young children each have their own little space. We had conversations about how the bathrooms were going to be arranged, if the children would have baths or showers and how their needs might change as they grow older. There’s a TV room at the front of the house which is quite separate and gives the children a quiet space to play. A utility room has been designed in the middle of the house on the ground floor with doors that slide right back so chores can be carried out while keeping an eye on the children. We’re now at the stage of choosing the internal materials; a family of darker woods such as walnut are being considered. Our discussions include how to tie-in the kitchen materials with that of the staircases and built-in furniture elsewhere in the house. Anya likes the idea of a textured or patterned floor so parquet flooring is a possibility. The internal walls will have areas of subtle colours and then lots of white to reflect the light. We are also looking at a simple palette of materials for the exterior of stone and light-coloured render. The roof will be a traditional tiled pitch roof in grey slate with rendered gables on the front and back. The basement subcontractors are now onsite and whilst the building construction has yet to take shape, the final design decisions are being made. The beauty of our 3D model means it’s possible to virtually walk through the design, experiencing every room layout, seeing the position and type of fixtures and fittings, ensuring the design is understood in every dimension.

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!

It’s full steam ahead in South Woodford with the original bungalow on the plot a distant memory with the digger working its magic clearing the site. It’s all very exciting as our architect James Gardener explains: “All the planning conditions are now discharged – the final sticking point related to the material palette which covers the Western Red Cedar, render and roof slates, but this was approved by Redbridge Council in the nick of time so we were able to start work on the site on the intended date.” The demolition was carried out expertly without any issues. There is something very satisfying about knocking down buildings knowing that we are going to create something very different and highly energy efficient and insulated in its place. The site is now cleared and roughly levelled as it was on a bit of a slope and this needed to go. So now we can start installing the underfloor drainage. The foundations will be set out shortly. This will be an interesting job as we are using a system that has only been used a few times in the UK: it’s an insulated raft foundation that means we need to use a minimal amount of concrete while creating a super insulated ground floor slab. While all the early ground works are carrying on, we are able to start to consider the finer detail of finalising materials, finishes and products for key areas like the kitchen and bathrooms. These discussions are starting to bring the project to life for clients Jim and Mary. They cycle past the site most days so are keeping a close eye on progress and we’re on hand to answer any queries. There a few kit houses on the market from Germany and Scandinavia but we’re pleased to say that Facit Homes is nothing like this. Many of our clients come to us having discounted a new house that is tantamount to buying one ready-made off the shelf without the ability to really custom build it. We respond to the site, the client and the planning conditions which means we produce a bespoke house that meets with our clients’ approval. Architect James is with Jim and Mary every step of the way and will be practically one of the family at the end of the build!

We’ve been up at the site getting the utilities disconnected and we’ve also had to remove a large number of plants from the front of the property ready for demolition. Very soon we’ll be working on a proper building site or rather a “Facit Homes” building site which is a bit different. There won’t be any cranes for a start which is good news for the neighbours and the street scene in general. Depending on the space available we’ll try to produce all the component parts on site, however, at Highgate it’s a bit tight so we will be using our unique 3D technology at our London Fields workshop to make the parts and then deliver them to the construction team exactly when they are needed with the minimum of fuss. Anya and Robin have now moved into a rented home just five minutes away while their new home is being built. Anya reports that the move was pretty smooth and now they are busy organising the unpacking. Their young sons Mark and Elliot were looking forward to the move and are now busy finding new places to play. Five-month-old baby Daniel may not be aware of much yet but he will no doubt be an inquisitive toddler when the new home is finished. The temporary move wasn’t as emotional as the Nuttalls were expecting but they are still resolutely not going to watch the demolition of their former family home. Not much has been salvaged from the old house – just a few light fittings and work surfaces. The new home is going to be very different from the old 60s bungalow. We were delighted to be featured in the local paper in the Ham & High’s  glossy property section last month. Property Editor Prudence Ivey spoke to our MD Bruce Bell about the Highgate plans and was very impressed explaining the ethos behind our company and how we differ from other builders and property types, building a truly bespoke digital product. Prudence liked the idea of our super insulated designs and even suggested that in the future there should be Facit Homes for the masses! This comes on the back of the news this month that we are now a RIBA chartered practice with our Director of Architecture George Legg. We have worked closely with Anya and Robin to make sure that this home is exactly how they want it so they can know what to expect and the budget. We’re just finalising the design of the basement which will be housing the family’s much anticipated swimming pool. Our clients get to know us very well during the build process even if they don’t live somewhere on the site – some of our homes have been built in the garden of an existing house which has then been demolished when the new home is ready to move in to. Anya and Robin are intending to drop by on a weekly basis to see how the house develops. It sounds like a memory book is in the making.

South Woodford is set to have its first British-made, energy-efficient, 3D-engineered home built for a local family. Looking back on the last year, events have moved quickly in South Woodford , Essex, for Jim and Mary as the vision of their new home starts to become a reality. We have been able to secure planning permission by working alongside our highly experienced planning consultants who know every twist and turn to make sure the local authority are happy with our architect James’s  plans. Now the non-descript bungalow, sitting uneasily alongside the period two story dwellings and residential blocks in the tree-lined road, is about to be demolished. It’s at this point that the long held dream of a truly original house will begin to materialise. Jim and Mary already know the Woodford area well having lived there for some time. Their brand new Facit Home will be their last move so they were very happy with the location close to local shops and tube station. They enjoy cycling although they aspire to having an electric car in the future when the manufacturers’ designs and prices improve, so they would like to future proof the new house to incorporate a recharging plug. They have also thought ahead to a time when perhaps they won’t be as able as they are now; for example, the staircase will be designed to take a stair lift in the future if needed. Sometimes we have to adjust our architect’s plans due to the suitability of the site. Jim and Mary had considered a ground source heat pump as one of a range of sustainable features  to keep energy consumption to a minimum, however, the plot size made this impossible. The property’s sustainable profile will include photovoltaic roof panels, a Mechanical Heat Recovery System and rainwater harvesting. Mary is already thinking about the interiors of their new home where they will keep wall colours muted instead relying on an eclectic mix of original furniture to celebrate the interior. Mary’s love of Ercol furniture  means that she’s already been eagerly shopping on eBay and storing her vintage discoveries ready for moving in day. Downsizing from a seven to a four bedroom property was never going to be easy so the new home will feature a range of cupboards and storage areas as well as a few surprises: sliding walls will allow flexibility within for example a guest bedroom could become a snooker room and there’s even a “priest hole” for Jim but we couldn’t possibly reveal where that will be!

The excitement is building in the Nuttall household as they will soon be moving out of their Highgate  house in North London, where they have lived happily for the past eight years, so that its demolition can begin! Anna, Robin and their three young sons Mark, Elliot and four month old Daniel are about to embark on an incredible journey with us. The family was quickly outgrowing the extended 1960s pebble-dashed bungalow where they live currently, yet they loved its location with wonderful views over fields to the front and only a short walk to Highgate Village  and local schools. Buying another larger house nearby would have meant paying a huge Stamp Duty bill, and we pointed out that there’s 0% VAT on new build homes. Even better, because our company fall into the category of “Design and Build”, there is no VAT payable on our professional fees either, unlike when using a local architect or consultant. So Anna and Robin made the decision – stay put, but start from scratch and build a brand new Facit Home. We’ve been working closely with Anna and Robin to design them the prefect property using our unique digital design production process (we’ve called it the D-Process™ ). Each of our customers have different needs and ideas so it’s always interesting having insightful conversations when the designs are being drawn up. The Nuttalls originally wanted a home built with a period exterior but our planning consultants pointed out that this wouldn’t be in keeping with the immediate area so we discussed other possibilities and very soon our architects came up with a stunning contemporary design. Lots of light-filled open plan living space to share with family and friends was on the agenda which had to be balanced by tranquil bedrooms on the upper floors that make the most of the country-like views and light aspect. This large 475m2 home will include an underground swimming pool – a first for us! The thinking behind this was the family’s love of staying in hotels on their travels and they wanted to maintain a holiday feel to their new home. The luxury of a subterranean retreat with steps leading up to the spacious garden beyond does just that. The house will be super insulated and air tight making the most of solar gain to heat the house during the winter months, supplemented by a Mechanical Heat Recovery System . In the summer, the open plan spaces will be cross ventilated by large opening windows connected into ventilation stacks running up through the building. The window openings on both sides of the building will provide excellent ambient light levels throughout the year reducing the need for artificial light and therefore reducing energy demand. A new home is a daunting prospect for many but while the work is in progress the family will be renting a home close-by. This means that Anna and Robin will be able to regularly observe the build programme that with Facit Homes is a completely different process to the construction of any other new home you can buy in the UK. Anna has many happy memories of living in the family home so she isn’t looking forward to it being demolished, instead she will look forward to the new home rising from the plot when work starts next month. "We’re all really excited. The opportunity to build a house like this in London doesn’t come up very often. We are already enjoying working with the team who totally understand what we want so now we can’t wait to see the results unfolding." We’ll be blogging regularly on this project so please check in again soon to catch up with the progress.