Helen and her husband Tom had a vision to create their dream home from a redundant canine hydrotherapy centre. As an interior designer Helen is no stranger to having a vision and creating something unique and special, however her skills were tested with this full renovation project. After a lot of hard work from Helen, Tom and their team, the existing abandoned commercial building has been converted to a stunning residential home.

Bathroom Rooflight:

Fixed Luxlite®

Colour: Black
Glass: Triple Glazed Solar Glass, Clear Tint
Size: 550mm x 2000mm

Hallway Rooflight:

Fixed Flat

Colour: Black
Glass: Triple Glazed Energy Glass, Clear Tint
Size: 1000mm x 3000mm

Planning

Finding the perfect plot of land is never easy but when Helen found her plot in the beautiful Nottinghamshire countryside, she knew it was the right choice. The bonus was there was a building she could convert into a house, the challenge being it was a redundant commercial building that had been used for canine hydrotherapy. There was still water in the pool when she acquired the land. To create a residential property the building needed not only a full renovation but other elements such as heat, electric, water etc.

The extent of the renovation project meant Helen and Tom had to go into a rental property nearby. They spent many months working hard to clear rubbish and debris so that the builders could concentrate on the building. The brief was to create a three-bedroom, two-bathroom single story home with open plan living spaces. The aesthetic is minimal Scandi inspired with black cladding.

Helen consulted with an Architect she knew, David Jackson-Crane of Jackson Crane Architecture, who she was confident would be perfect to bring her vision to life. David commented “One of the key elements of the design brief was to bring as much natural light into the building as possible as the existing building was very dark. By introducing a vaulted ceiling and large, strategically placed floor to ceiling windows we were able to maximize the amount of natural light entering the space. We arranged the habitable rooms to the perimeter of the building to allow for views over the countryside. We wanted to avoid the leftover space to the centre of the building becoming a dark circulation space so very early on in the design process, we imagined this as an atrium space which could be used as a breakout space rather than a conventional corridor only used to access the rooms. We proposed a large frameless fixed rooflight over this atrium space to flood the area with natural light. The added volume and sense of height in this space creates a bright and airy atmosphere and makes the space a pleasure to experience as the homeowner passes from room to room.

As the project developed, Helen could see that the space needed minimalistic rooflights with clean lines. After discovering Roof Maker through some online research, Helen chose a large Fixed Flat for the hallway area to bathe the room in natural light and she selected a Fixed Luxlite for the bathroom, due to the room layout this would be the only source of light so she really wanted to ensure the rooflight worked in the space. A Roof Maker Luxlite® has a frameless view from the inside, so it lets in more light than traditional pitched rooflights.

Helen found Roof Maker very professional, the communication was excellent especially as they were renovating during Covid lockdown and there were supply issues across the whole construction industry. She commented “My experience with Roof Maker was good from start to finish…I didn’t have to chase, they kept me informed every step of the way. The staff and communication were brilliant and the fact it (rooflights) was delivered by their own drivers and offloaded and checked by them – I was really impressed with the service.”

Helen remembers feeling nervous watching the crane lift the large Fixed Flat rooflight onto the roof, but her builder had it all under control. It was such a large piece of glass and so heavy, they had to have a crane to get it into place.

The Result

Helen commented “I love natural light, it’s important to me for my home to be flooded with it.”

Looking back at the challenges, Helen noted the main ones were planning and getting services installed. Building during Covid obviously gave them more challenges, including the huge rise in the cost of materials but ever the positive thinker Helen commented “My philosophy is ‘Keep your eye on the prize’ and then you will get that ‘it was worth it moment’.”

Helen said “I realised what we were going to gain by having the rooflights…on install day when they actually took the tarpaulins down and it was like someone had put every single light on in the building.”

Reflecting on the project Helen noted “I think it’s made us appreciate our home more knowing what’s gone into creating it and working so hard ourselves during the project.”

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

✅ Made to measure in our factory in Leicestershire
✅ Constructed using triple glazed insulated glass units, with superior thermal efficiency and an outstanding Ug-value as low as 0.6w/m2k
✅ Available in your choice of RAL frame colours
✅ Available with a variety of glass types and tints
✅ We deliver anywhere in the UK mainland

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