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What would a cost consultant鈥檚 dream home look like? A neat brick house with double garage, driveway, pitched roof, Georgian style windows and a neo-classical portico? Okay, that was a cheap jibe at the expense of one of the industry鈥檚 more straitlaced professions, but it鈥檚 fair to say not many QSs would choose to live in an uncompromising, ultramodern set of glass and wooden boxes 鈥� even one that鈥檚 bagged an RIBA award.

Yet this is exactly what QS Jimmi Bradbury, Cyril Sweett鈥檚 international development director, and his wife Liz have built in the Hertfordshire green belt. As I struggle to get out of Bradbury鈥檚 low slung coup茅, my first view is of an oversized, neatly panelled wooden cupboard complete with projecting hinges for the doors. Architect Niall McLaughlin later explains that the illusion is entirely deliberate. The house was conceived as a series of discrete, box-like elements, including a larger glass box. 鈥淲e wanted the first box to be a piece of cabinetry, like a piece of old-fashioned panelling 鈥� something that feels like it鈥檚 been made by a joiner,鈥� he says.

McLaughlin describes the cabinet as 鈥渢he servant to the glass box鈥� as it contains utilitarian spaces such as bathrooms and dressing rooms. The glass box itself, which is also divided into panels, contains the kitchen, bedrooms and a double-height living room that opens onto a paddock. A huge freestanding solar shade forms another element and next to this is a rectangular pond that separates the paddock from the patio and also reads as a separate entity.

McLaughlin says he went to great lengths to make each element look independent of its neighbour. For example, there is a glass-framed gap between the timber and glass boxes, and the external timber cladding continues inside to emphasise the separation between the two. Sitting in the living room with the doors to the paddock open, the whole effect is beautiful, contemplative and peaceful, with ripples from the pond reflecting onto the walls.

What made Bradbury go for such a maverick, one-off building? 鈥淚鈥檝e always had a passion for good architecture and I always said if I had an opportunity to realise this, I would,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e wanted to create something different and unique that would give us a sense of joy to live in.鈥�

Bradbury worked for Cyril Sweett for 10 years before taking off to live in the Philippines and New York. When he came back to the UK and rejoined his old employer, he bought a 200-year-old house near Hatfield. 鈥淲e looked at extending and refurbishing the house,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 never quite your own, it鈥檚 always going to be someone else鈥檚.鈥�

Despite the restrictions of the green belt location, Bradbury wanted to see if he could take down the existing property and fulfil his dream of building an ultramodern new home. At least the choice of designer was straightforward. McLaughlin is a well-known modern architect who has won numerous awards for his work, and happened to go to primary school with Bradbury in Dublin. When they both moved to London, McLaughlin used Bradbury鈥檚 QS skills and Bradbury got McLaughlin to overhaul his first flat. 鈥淚 remember your business card was handwritten,鈥� laughs Bradbury.

Bradbury says it was a 鈥渘o-brainer鈥� commissioning McLaughlin to design the house. 鈥淲hen I decided to build my own house I wanted a signature architect, partly because I had worked with them, but also because I wanted someone who would do something different, so it had to be Niall,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 knew there would be a lot of challenges because signature architects are passionate about their work. Perhaps it isn鈥檛 a good idea to use a friend but the tension did create a positive energy.鈥�

Bradbury鈥檚 initial brief was reasonably loose, he explains. 鈥淲e wanted it to work as a family home and represent our life overseas. We wanted it to be open and free flowing and include elements that pop up at you, such as the landscape. We wanted lots of light and glass and the building needed to relate to the site around it.鈥�

The brief may have been loose, but McLaughlin clearly excels at turning vague aspirations into concrete form. 鈥淎t the beginning you wanted options,鈥� he smiles to Bradbury, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 normally do options.鈥�

He says the idea of the series of boxes came from local market gardens with their artlessly arranged, loose groupings of disparate buildings. McLaughlin says early versions of this idea had more 鈥渧a va voom鈥� but became simpler as client and architect worked up the design. 鈥淚t took a while to work out how simple the house could be,鈥� says McLaughlin. 鈥淚 would call it laconic simplicity, driven by Liz and Jim鈥檚 nature and personality.鈥� He adds that the scheme鈥檚 complexity came from getting these simple elements to work together.

Bradbury was advised that his chances of getting planning permission were slim because of the location. Some local people objected to the old house being knocked down but McLaughlin insists it had no particular architectural merit. One objector cited worries about the roads in the village being clogged up by architectural junkies coming from London to gawp at the place. Of course, that still might happen 鈥� and probably should.

By a stroke of luck, a sympathetic planning officer was assigned to the case. McLaughlin argued that the building would not only be special but a local exemplar for low energy use, which clinched the deal. 鈥淥nce they decided to go with it, they were very supportive; they weren鈥檛 picking away at the edges,鈥� he says.

This was just as well, because McLaughlin is uncompromising when it comes to detailing ). Unfortunately this had a tendency to ramp up the costs, particularly that panelled, timber box. 鈥淚 did challenge the panels on the outside and suggest tongue-and-groove, which would have been cheaper,鈥� says Bradbury.

Although McLaughlin persuaded Bradbury to go for the panelling, the architect recognises this was a leap of faith. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy to talk about the panelling now but it was quite an investment of trust on their part,鈥� says McLaughlin. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 say anything other than 鈥榯rust me鈥� when I said it would give the building a finer quality. It would have been so much cheaper to have simpler or no panelling, but you guys really stuck with that.鈥�

McLaughlin was also insistent that the internal wall separating the wooden from the glass box had to have the same panelled treatment as the exterior. 鈥淚 had to work hard to persuade Jimmi to use the timber on the inside so it reads as two boxes,鈥� he says. 鈥淛immi said, 鈥榃e鈥檒l hold onto that for a while and let鈥檚 see how we do鈥�. It was a bit of a carrot to keep costs in check.鈥�

In the end, Bradbury sanctioned the additional cost of panelling the internal wall. 鈥淭here is one side of the equation, which is cost, and the other is value,鈥� says Bradbury. 鈥淲hen I got my head around the value it would add to the building, this far exceeded the cost of it.鈥�

Selecting the right contractor was essential if the original design intent was going to shine through. Bradbury used his professional experience and insisted on fully detailed drawings before going out to tender. 鈥淚f you go out and design it as you go along, it鈥檚 a recipe for disaster,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not fair on the contractor 鈥� we spend too little time on the design stage and hand it over to the contractor to sort out the problems.鈥�

A Surrey-based contractor called Claremont impressed Bradbury and McLaughlin with its professional approach. The site agent was a carpenter by trade, which was just as well given the amount of joinery involved. 鈥淗e would be on the phone five times a day saying, 鈥楧o you want this screw to have five or seven turns?鈥欌�� says McLaughlin.

Now the house is finished, does Bradbury have any regrets? He says it was challenging being both client and QS. 鈥淥n one side you are trying to create something unique and on the other you are managing costs and asking yourself, should we be spending this money?鈥� That鈥檚 a fair enough question given that the build came in at 拢550,000. 鈥淭here have been tensions and it has consumed huge chunks of our life making decisions, plus it becomes emotional as it鈥檚 your own place. But I would encourage people to do it; I would certainly do it again.鈥�