James and Selina Vickers designed and built their new house with energy efficiency in mind, creating a home with exceptionally low running costs throughout the year

WORDS DEBBIE JEFFERY PHOTOS JEWELL PHOTOGRAPHY

FACT FILE

NAMES James & Selina Vickers

OCCUPATIONS Construction company MD & administrator

LOCATION Isle of Man

TYPE OF PROJECT Self-build

STYLE Contemporary

PROJECT ROUTE

Owner project managed

CONSTRUCTION METHOD

Traditional masonry built to eco standards

LAND COST Already owned

HOUSE SIZE 414m²

PROJECT COST £528,000

PROJECT COST PER M2 £1,275

BUILDING WORK COMMENCED

May 2014

BUILDING WORK TOOK

52 weeks

CURRENT VALUE £1,200,000

James Vickers and his wife Selina were no strangers to self-building when they took on this project. Having completed two previous houses, which stand side by side on the same road as their latest construction, they knew exactly what they wanted to achieve in terms of performance.

“I dislike the term eco – I feel it’s rather undefined, unquantified and frequently misused. However, this house really is green,” says James of his new four-bedroom family home. “We wanted to truly explore the best ways to create an efficient dwelling which would also be aff ordable to run.”

The couple’s first project was a barn conversion ahead of their wedding day. James, who now owns a construction company, used to work as a quantity surveyor and has always enjoyed hands-on building – as has Selina. “We worked on renovating the barn when we were getting married,” says James. “Selina actually had to have her wedding dress altered twice because she grew broader across the shoulders from working so hard on site.”

They lived in their converted abode from 1992 until 1998, when they built a new house on a plot right next door. “At the time our home was absolutely cutting edge, but so much has changed in 16 years that we wanted to self-build again, this time using the latest technology,” says Selina.