Old Dalby Reservoir

Tank house represented the first Paragraph 80 house design that the practice successfully gained planning permission for with unanimous support at the Melton Borough Council planning committee. Old Dalby Reservoir was originally conceived to support the nearby Old Dalby airforce  base. Constructed of a foot thick in situ concrete, and covered completely with earth the reservoir tank is not at first glance your garden variety conversion project. For us it was love at first sight. The structures direct relationship to a protected forest and farmland meant that the lucky inhabitants would be blessed with short range views of cattle munching grass and vistas of an ever-changing woodland throughout the year. The conceptual design was to create a stealth house; from the front a single door nestling within a mound of indigenous perennial planting. To the rear an expansive open plan living and kitchen to capitalise on the views of nature and landscape. The design utilises gabion walls to retain earth to pockets created in the mound to form courtyard gardens for bedrooms. The concrete structure was perforated with roof lights to create soft and consistent light to the hallway and kitchen area.

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The vast amount of earth and concrete creates a large thermal mass to provide insulation to the front portion of the house and to the rear a lightweight timber and steel framed extension was installed to house the dining, utility and living areas. Procured at a unique time period just as the Covid 19 Pandemic was taking hold, two brave self-builders Phil and Maggie decided that project managing their own dream build would allow them to escape the drudgery of lockdowns, tiers and the endless wait for a vaccine. This wasn’t such a bad idea; project managing allowed complete control of work and financial control over a specialist project just as the residential construction sector was turning white hot. We were only too glad to support them and turn their dream into a reality.

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The technical challenges of the project were manifold but with previous experience with in situ concrete structures via building basements in London, we were uniquely placed to help solve the various technical challenges such a project would place. In the first instance we undertook a technical drawing package, made a building regulations application and liaised with the structural engineer to ensure complete technical compliance. We then aided the procurement of specialist concrete treatment and remedial works packages to ensure the existing structure was best placed for conversion. We used our contacts within the industry to find suitable subcontractors for specialist packages and package by package we supported the contractors on site with technical requests and advice.  

The construction sequence was challenging with specialisms such as concrete cutting, temporary works, structural waterproofing and extensive green roofs all required. The project utilised the existing heavy structures to their maximum structural and thermal potential and where new construction occurred this was kept as lightweight as possible to reduce overall carbon footprint and embodied energy. We utilised our timber frame experience to install a timber framed extension with specialist level threshold glazing to provide a seamless relationship between inside and out.

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