Brunt

Set in the Weald of Kent, this contemporary house was designed by the client, a retired architect, who has always dreamed of building her own home. With the support of her husband, Helen Heslop Brunt has created a bespoke home with free-flowing living spaces suffused with natural light. It blends with the surrounding landscape and takes advantage of the wonderful views to the south. The Brunts are family-minded and wanted comfortable bedrooms with en-suite showers upstairs for when their adult children come to visit. Accessibility was also a major consideration, as the couple want to enjoy their home for a long time to come. To achieve this, a downstairs room has been fitted with a disabled-access shower room and can be used as a bedroom if needed. The house is also sustainable, with solar panels on the south-facing pitch roof an an air source heat pump that provides underfloor heating throughout.

Fact sheet

Roof shape

Pitched roof

Façade

Timber

Bedrooms

Dimensions in m

19.45 x 15.17

Gross External Area in ft² (incl. basement if present)

4067

An architect’s dream come true

Helen Heslop Brunt

"The glazing and open corners take advantage of the stunning views and sloping land to the south and contrast with the more formal, enclosed frontage on the northern, entrance side. Three distinct, linked volumes with mono or double pitched roofs relate the house to the site as seen from afar. The main roof pitch is optimised for photovoltaic panels and brises soleil reduce unwanted solar gain. Baufritz’s bespoke construction and process allowed me to fulfil every architect’s dream, and build my own eco family house, on time and on budget.”

Nautical Flair

The open-plan kitchen and living room are bright and cheerful, with a deep picture window framing the stunning views of the Weald of Kent. The Brunts’ love of sailing is reflected in the colour scheme and pictures of boats throughout the house. They even have a model of their sailing boat made for them by a family friend.

Treading the boards

The entrance hall is double height and flooded with daylight thanks to full-wall glazing around the front door. A strong feature in this space is the staircase with natural timber treads and an elegant handrail.

"I can truly say that Baufritz has delivered my vision, which was this easy-going, very functional, light-filled, beautiful space."

Read the Home story

Bespoke design elements

A great amount of detail has gone into planning the house. The Brunts studied Baufritz’s show houses and incorporated design elements, such as the corner glazing and brises soleil. The latter add definition to the architecture and reduce solar gain, keeping the house cool in summer and contributing to the house’s excellent energy efficiency performance.

Down to earth

The architectural design with three distinct volumes breaks down the mass of the building and reduces its visual impact, giving it a natural, harmonious look. Different materials were used on the façade, such as natural larch cladding, Kentish ragstone and ceramic roof tiles, which were chosen to enhance the simplicity of the design and meet the clients’ sustainability objectives.

Floor plans

Ground Floor

First Floor

Highest eco credentials

Sustainability was an important factor for the client. The house is heated in winter by an air source heat pump run on electricity generated by photovoltaic panels on the roof. The walls and roof are made using Baufritz’s patented natural insulation comprising wood shavings with soda and whey fire protection, and the windows are triple-glazed, draught-free and air-tight. As a result, the house is almost energy-neutral.

A ray of sunshine

Photovoltaic panels have been installed on the south-facing roof of the main volume of the house. This has an optimum pitch of 28 degrees for generating electricity from the sun. The PV panels, which are black to reduce their visual impact, are connected to the national grid and produce most of the electricity needed to run the house.