Client Max Mace of NM Finance, a leading Norwich whole-of-market mortgage broker, had purchased the site which included a former farmhouse and two barns. Having previously developed a barn conversion as a self-build project, Max saw the potential of the Corpusty project and chose to work with Vertex to develop a design for the main residence and additionally to convert the two outbuildings into residential barn conversions.
“I used to live nearby and would often run past the farmhouse which is part of a working farm and had been boarded up several years ago by the farm owner, after family members moved out,” says Max. “The sale went to best and final offers and we were delighted to secure the house and two additional barns for development.
“Although the main house had recently had a new roof, everything else needed to be updated and we planned a back-to-brick refurbishment with a full rewiring, new plumbing and heating system. We also wanted to change the layout of the property to open up the living space, which required structural work and the installation of steels to reinforce the building, plus the installation of a vast, six metre bi-fold door off the kitchen area. The cost of the work far exceeded the property purchase price, but enabled us to create a fabulous five-bedroom, four bathroom family home set over three floors and across 5,800 sq ft.
“We chose to work with Vertex Architecture and Jordan was heavily involved in the discussions to shape our plans. As a family, we had a list of things that we wanted to incorporate including a dressing room, games room and home cinema which we were cleverly able to house in the cellar. Jordan was fantastic at helping us to envisage the plans as we developed them and to ensure that the flow of the house would work well. This is an important aspect of any development, as what looks good on paper doesn’t always work in reality unless you are conscious of scale and structure.
“We had bought the site with planning permission in place for the two barns, but the existing scheme didn’t work well so Jordan reworked this to create a more appealing design. These were developed as a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home and a three-bedroom, three-bathroom property, both with ground floor accommodation for flexible, multi-generational living. Although the style is contemporary, the design retains glimpses of the building’s history with exposed steelwork in the roof and brick and flint panels around the exterior and we were delighted with the end result which works sympathetically within the rural setting.
“A lot of architects are quite traditional in style and it helped that Jordan is younger and very much on the same page as us when it comes to design, and he understood what we wanted to achieve. Vertex Architecture is competitively priced and delivered the results we wanted, so we were delighted to work with him and I would highly recommend Jordan and his team to anyone looking for a creative and imaginative architect to achieve their vision.”
