Mandy and Tony Slater’s energy-efficient three-storey selfbuild home sits majestically on a sloping plot in Gloucestershire

WORDS SOPHIE VENING PHOTOS CHRISTOPHER TUBBS/THE HOUSE AGENCY

When an overgrown, steeply sloping plot situated opposite their family home of 25 years came up for sale, Mandy and Tony Slater jumped at the chance to purchase it with the intent of creating an energy-efficient new property from scratch. “We’ve never selfbuilt before, but we always said if the plot of land opposite our house came up for sale that we would buy it”, explains Mandy.

Their offer was quickly accepted but, before they signed off on the sale, they swiftly applied for outline planning permission to ensure something could be built on the site. When it came to developing the final design for detailed planning approval, the couple knew they wanted to create something modern, which would also reflect the local vernacular. What’s more, it needed to be energy efficient. “I had been tinkering with some designs in my head, and the finished house isn’t too far from what I was originally thinking”, says Tony.

To contend with the awkward plot, the couple, alongside Mustard Architects, came up with a cantilevered house split over three levels, built into the slope. The layout features a lower-ground-floor master suite, a middle storey to host the open-plan kitchen, dining and living area and a top level to accommodate guest bedrooms for when their adult daughters come to stay. Separate outdoor spaces on each floor were also to be incorporated into the new property’s design, in order to make maximum use of the plot’s south-facing aspect.