21 Dec 2016

A Surrey family appoint Living Oak to construct oak-framed games room

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With three growing teenage boys and the desire to stay in the leafy suburb of Cobham, Surrey, Gavin and Nicky Rochussen were determined to create a home which accommodated the family’s requirements for more space without the need to move.

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Having always dreamed of having an oak-framed extension, the pair appointed Living Oak to create a Grand Designs-style games room in the grounds of their six-bedroom residence, aptly named Woodleigh.

Gavin, the Chief Executive of a fund management company in London’s West End, commented: “We bought our house in 2006 as we loved the lifestyle, quaint villages and excellent schools that Cobham had to offer. I travel abroad on a regular basis and our home is ideally located close to Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick. Plus, it’s easy to drive or get the train into central London. With three teenage boys aged 13, 15 and 18 at the time, we reached the point that we either needed to extend or move in order to obtain the space we needed. “Nicky and I had always loved oak-framed living spaces, so we decided to build our own oak-framed extension in our garden. This enabled us to design a bespoke extension that suited our needs and, with the increasingly high costs to move home, we knew that this was the way forward.”

Spanning over 1200ft2 on the ground floor and a further 250ft2 on the upper floor, the versatile space incorporates a cinema room, bar, games room, photographic studio, kitchen, guest suite and bathroom. Gavin added: “Nicky is a photographer and she was delighted to have her own studio to do her work. Our three sons can watch a film or have friends over and make loads of noise without annoying us or the neighbours. Plus, we have room for socialising and a guest room for when friends come to stay with us.”

The barn-style extension is accessed via a 2m hallway from the main residence. Featuring exposed wood oak beams and full-height glazing down one side, which face the beautiful, mature garden, the striking extension encompasses a feature arched brace which sits above the centre of the dramatic space.

Gavin added: “We chose to work with Living Oak because we were keen to support local businesses and we are so pleased with the excellent knowledge and expertise of the Living Oak team. The project took 12 months from the initial design and planning through to completion and the team fully project managed the whole process, minimising stress and upheaval on myself and my family. Our sons are getting older now and in the next few years they will all have flown the nest to go to university. We may not need this much space in the long term, but we are confident that the oak frame has added value and desirability to our property.”

Living Oak sources its oak frames in France; each one hand selected by expert craftsmen for each individual project. Sustainable products and building techniques are utilised to create a home which synergises with nature. The company works with suppliers who have reforestation agreements in place; so more trees are planted than felled.

Customers who have created a Living Oak home have maximised their properties’ potential, transferring them into sought-after spaces that bring nature into their living environment, sometimes doubling the property’s value. The cost for a Living Oak framed home starts from £150 per square foot.

The beautiful games room extension at Woodleigh cost £249,000.

Further information....

Improve, don’t move

Living Oak has reported a 25% rise in enquiries compared with Q2 2016, from customers looking to renovate rather than move.

Research from Living Oak has shown that the changes in Stamp Duty has also had a positive impact on the business, with customers choosing to put the money into renovating to create their dream home. A recent survey by Lloyds Bank advised that the average cost to move home in London is now £31,416 (£27,946 in 2014) and the UK average is now £11,000 (£8,098 in 2014.)

80% of Living Oak’s customers add a single-storey oak framed extension with the remaining 20% opting for two storeys or additional rooms in the grounds of a property, such as a pool house or games room. The most popular choices are open-plan kitchen and living areas which offer floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto gardens or grounds.

Living Oak adopts a ‘less is more’ approach, combining the oak framing with modern materials, believing that too much can become overpowering. Using sustainably sourced oak from France, the company can work on a project from initial designs – through planning – all the way through to completion, creating living spaces which wouldn’t look out of place on Grand Designs.

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