Introduction

After a couple of car accidents (the last in November 1999), resulting in a permanent neck injury, I've spent a lot of time working from home. However, my 'office' has been located in a small corner of my son's bedroom – leading to complications (and a lack of space) that were starting to make life just a little intolerable.

So, over the Christmas break of 2000/2001, we (meaning my wife, Philippa, and I...) decided to do something about this: sketching out rough plans for a study space in the loft.

We then hired a specialist designer to refine these; submitted them to the council (to check that planning permission wasn't needed, and to ensure that we met building regulations), and waited for building work to begin – which it finally did on 15 January 2002.

Builder

Interestingly enough, we initially struggled to find a builder willing to construct what was, perhaps, in their mind, such a 'complex' loft conversion – most simply wishing to do what they'd seemingly always done.

But we wanted to maximize the space in the loft – building in storage and filing space, as well as a shower-room (should we ever want to use the new space as a fourth bedroom).

We got there in the end, though! And the guys doing all the work are both sticklers for detail, and conscientious when it comes to quality. (Although, with the work going on above my head, I do sometimes wonder if we haven't hired a small tribe of elephants to carry out the work). They're also a really nice bunch of guys!

Designer

Sadly, as the building work has progressed, it has become clear that the plans were a little error-prone. You therefore won't find a listing for the firm that carried out the final design work on the Suppliers page. (This is a real shame, as some of the ideas the designer contributed to the final layout were top-notch.) Never mind.

How and why this website was built

Being anally retentive, I try and record all of the massive events that happen in my life. (I kept Kodak in profits when my son as born!) Also: it's sometimes hard to describe the exact state of progress when people ask me "howzit going?")

So I thought a pictorial record would do the trick; and, to make it accessible, why not put it on the Web?!

For ease of use – and speed (I do have a full-time job, you know...!) – I've put the pages together in Microsoft Word (rather than manually coding them, as I would normally). Photographs are either scanned in – on a Canon CanoScan N1220U – from film (taken on a Canon IXUS Z70); or taken digitally (on a digital dream l'espion – all 58mm x 40mm x 15mm of it...).

Scattered around the site are a few panoramic shots. These were either bolted together manually, using Adobe Photoshop; or stitched, semi-automatically, using an early version of Photovista.

Postscript

If you'd like to know anything else about this project – or you'd like to be notified of updates to the site – please feel free to email me at srward@srward.com.

The plans...

The overall floor-plan.

I'm told that – always – one of the most difficult jobs in a loft conversion is fitting the staircase in... – and this project was no exception!
Anyway, thanks to Richard at C & M Joinery – and lots of measuring and visualizing... – we got there in the end!

This is how the roof will look from above – ...once it's finished!

One of the dormers: showing the construction detail. (These windows double as exits, in case of fire.)

The back view of the completed loft – note the curved dormer roof, matching the existing windows.

A cross-section of the finished study/bedroom.
The left-hand door leads to the new stairs, landing and shower-room; the right-hand one to the storage and filing space.

Last updated: 8 February 2002