When David Hills and Deborah Saunt began plans to build a home in the backyard of a 19th-century house in London they had a height limit, so they decided to bury half the house underground. They also used mirrors as cladding to help hide the home, reflecting the surrounding vegetation instead.
Their home in Clapham Old Town is in a conservation area, surrounded by 23 neighbors who once overlooked the overgrown garden of sycamores and ivy. In order to replicate that lush environment, they planted a green roof, and Hills and Saunt designed a green roof with drought-tolerant sedum plants, which require only a very thin buildup and promote wildlife. They also planted new trees, like mulberry, around the home.
To create a secure and simple structure for an underground home, they started with a concrete box. “We dug a big hole to build the house in. It’s just a square box. That’s also cheaper. Every time you have to push in and out, then you’re building really complicated shuttering. So when you go down, the simpler you can make it, the better.”
Wanting as much daylight as possible, they dug sunken courtyards around the home to act as lightwells for the downstairs. Upstairs they used skylights and strategically-placed windows (to protect the neighbors’ privacy and theirs) to keep artificial light to a minimum.
With half the home underground, the earth helps maintain a stable temperature, but there’s a heat recovery system when heating is necessary. Rooftop solar thermal panels heat the home’s water.
On *faircompanies: https://faircompanies.com/videos/couldnt-build-higher-his-dugout-garden-home-grew-upside-down/
source
there's just one thing bothering me … oven next to freezer?
This home is a treasure for the community. Bravo! it’s simple-E genius.
A fantastic and novel building made to work with the available land! Great job on the video.
Very interesting house.
it looks like living in a concrete bomb shelter, but hey maybe they got a deal
do you have to worry about flooding in the basement?
The moment I saw "Couldn't build higher" I immediately knew it was the UK…
it sounds accoustically a bit echoey. Some panels of thick fabric (of interesting texture) could be strategically hung on various walls, but i guess it would detract from the harshness of the concrete that they wanted.
in C´mon ´Cmon the movie from 2021 …24min in It sounded like you on the phone with him on the beach..
There's a lovely bit at the very end where you opens the door to the patio. I wish that outdoor space had been explored more.
Such a suburban question, yet where do they store their vehicle/bicycles/gym/yard care implements? Is there a garage on the property somewhere?
..many people try to build a fluid minimalist and welcoming space.. there is lot of bl bla bla.. but they hardly succeed. This is actually it.
Awesome house.
Im trying to decide on what to call this? Brutalist-Nouveau? Lived-in Bomb Shelter?
England is a rainy and gloomy place IMO. This house is amazing with the amount of light brought in.
I always find some peace watching your work. You beautifully enable others to share their story’s
One of the most interesting homes I have ever seen!
These old hipsters, nice house, but what a bunch of PC hippies.
We like a shadowy garden particularly now the world is getting hotter and hotter.
Most people are just such naive gullible conformists, it’s amazing.
You could latterly convince them over a indoctrination of decades that the moon is made out of cheese, the enhanced (gain of function) flue is a deadly pandemic worth destroying the world economy over, or woman can have a penis and men can get pregnant, it’s just laughably idiotic.
The sink in the powder room! gorgeous!!! who is the manufacturer?
Kills me that they didn't use wooden crossbeams at 9:30 for the main floor ceiling, it would add so much warmth to the space
Interesting to see, I remember seeing it on Grand Designs in 2016
(UK, Channel 4, Grand Designs: House of the Year – Series 2 Episode 2)
What I think is most interesting about this project is that you do not feel like you are living underground in one of the world's biggest cities, London.
He showed us the wee guest toilet by the door but where's the main bathroom?
I love this style of hidden house with small alleys that only the owner knows to access the house.
What a gem! One of the best house I've seen on your channel!