Project planning

The past few weeks has seen the project plan coming together nicely. 

The structural analysis work was completed back in March and the architectural work is similarly more or less completed. The project has been registered with the council's building control department so there are no further administrative tasks outstanding. 

The grand plan

One problem that has exercised me is what to do with all the stuff that is in the garage and summerhouse. Most of the summerhouse stuff is garden furniture that with the better weather can now be outside. 

A cunning plan was hatched by my builder to move the summerhouse away from the construction work area, onto the patio, so it can be used to store garage stuff. I must confess that I had my reservations as to the feasibility of moving such a large structure intact but I reckoned without the capabilities of four strapping lads and sure enough it was quickly repositioned within a couple of hours this morning.

The summerhouse repositioned and repurposed as a temporary store

This leaves the work area clear and I can now take my time shifting the garage paraphernalia into the summerhouse. It's an opportunity for a good clear out too, after 25 years of accumulating stuff that might, one day, be handy but which is then never looked at again.

Demolition work will likely commence before the end of April with the first item on the agenda the removal and safe disposal of the asbestos roof material on the garage. Around the same time the existing double garage door will be removed and taken away for servicing, to be reinstalled on the new garage in due course.

It's starting to feel real now, almost 10 months after the original idea was born. 

 

So what's it all about then?

The plan is to build what is effectively a three-car garage, although there is a vanishingly small prospect of ever getting three cars in there. Realistically, the layout of the driveway and access to the garage makes it nearly impossible for anything other than a tiny car to get into the rightmost slot. But that space is super useful for garden maintenance equipment and general "stuff". 

In addition, there is a rather elderly summer house built of softwood that is coming to the end of its useful life. Between the garage and the summer house is, practically speaking, wasted space, about 2.5m wide that could be made better use of.

The existing garage and summer house, showing 
the extent of the proposed new development  

The plan therefore is to demolish the existing two car garage and the old summer house and build a single story three car garage/sun room plus storage areas in the vacated space, overall some 12m x 7m. 

Architect's drawing looking 
from the south

Architect's drawing looking 
from the north

 

 

 

 

 

 

Architect's plan

The garage will have room for a good sized workshop and space for garden furniture, tractor, etc. Above the garage will be a large loft space which will no doubt get filled with junk in no time. The sun room section will extend up to roof level to give a tall open space with glass on two sides. Behind the sun room is further ground level storage. 

Planning approval has been obtained and the structural design is completed. I've selected the builder and we meet next Monday to kick off the project, with a planned start date in mid-late April.

And then...

Thirteen years ago I had this sudden urge to develop Pennine View from the small cottage on a big plot of land into a somewhat bigger country residence. The project was a huge success and you can read all about it, or at least as much as I am willing to tell you, in the posts below.

I rather thought that I was done with big projects but it seems not. Nine months ago I was struck by another sudden urge, this time to get a little sports car for those nice sunny days that we occasionally get up here in Cumbria. Well that rather genteel notion was never going to suffice and so it was that I ended up buying a Jaguar F-type, all eight cylinders, five litres and 550 horsepower of it. 

Now the F-type, whilst great fun is a totally impractical car, being a true two seater with a rather small boot - but an enormous, E-type-esque bonnet to hide that chunky V8 engine. Not much good for carrying stuff, in other words. It's also rather low to the ground and some of my less agile friends do not fit into it well...

And so I became a two car household.

Pennine View does have a double garage but half of that is full of workshop, a garden tractor and other maintenance paraphernalia needed for a couple of acres of prime Cumbrian countryside. Then there's all the usual stuff that one acquires after 25 years of living in the same place. So in practice, it's a bit of a fight to fit just one car into the remaining space. I really would prefer to be able to get both cars under cover, especially during the winter months when it can get pretty wild up here.

And so a new project is born and this Blog awakens from its slumbers as documentary evidence.  

Pennine View in March 2026 - a view from my drone