A three-bedroom family annexe in Newark by Heritage Living Group
A 107sqm SIPs annexe on a farm near Newark, with three bedrooms, a family bathroom, a large open-plan living space and a ramp built into the deck for step-free access on sloping ground.
This three-bedroom annexe by Heritage Living Group is a permanent family home on a farm near Newark, Nottinghamshire. It’s all on one level, and a long ramp built into the deck gives step-free access from the garden, even though the ground slopes away from the building.
At 12.6m x 8.5m, it’s one of the largest annexes we’ve featured. Inside there’s an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space, a double bedroom, two children’s bedrooms, a family bathroom with a bath, and a separate utility entrance.
At a glance
- Size: 12.6m x 8.5m, about 107sqm, with an overall height of 2.89m. Three bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space, a family bathroom and a utility entrance.
- Built for: a family living full time on a farm near Newark, Nottinghamshire.
- Construction: structural insulated panels (SIPs) for the floor, walls and roof, on ground screw foundations, built to full residential standard with planning permission and Building Control sign-off.
- Finishes: Millboard batten-on-board cladding in Burnt Cedar, a curved fascia over an oak-toned soffit and a Golden Oak deck with a ramp outside; plastered walls and oak-effect floors inside.
- Company: Heritage Living Group, Doncaster.
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Cladding with an agricultural feel
The walls are clad in Millboard’s Board & Batten in Burnt Cedar. Millboard is a composite resin board with a real wood-grain texture, and the Burnt Cedar finish is black, with the reddish brown of cedar coming through. Narrow battens stepped over wider boards give the walls a deep vertical profile that echoes the barns and timber buildings on the farm around it. Unlike timber, it doesn’t need oiling to hold its colour, which matters on a building that’s somebody’s home.
The roof oversails the walls by 750mm, and the soffit underneath is lined in golden oak-toned boards, four deep. Against the black cladding the contrast is strong, especially after dark when the soffit and the tall wall lights are lit. The fascia curves round each corner instead of meeting at a right angle. That takes more work to build than a square corner, and it gives the building much of its architectural character.
A ramp built into the deck
The ground slopes across the plot, so the deck stands higher at one end. In place of steps, Heritage Living Group built a long ramp into the deck, with railings along its edge, rising from the lawn to the entrance. It’s laid in Millboard’s Lastagrip boards, which have a slip-resistant surface, and the deck itself is Millboard in Golden Oak. Because the ramp is built as part of the deck, not bolted on afterwards, it reads as one piece with the building.
Inside, every room is on the same level, and French doors from the dining area and the main bedroom, along with a wide set of sliding doors beside the kitchen, all open onto the deck.
How the layout works
The plan divides the annexe into two parts. The kitchen, dining and living space takes one end, about 6.5m across and the full 8m depth of the building. The rest is arranged around a short hallway, with the two children’s bedrooms and the bathroom along the back wall, and the utility entrance and main bedroom along the front. It keeps the bedrooms away from the kitchen and living space, which matters in a home with young children.
The roof has a gentle fall, and the side elevation gives the building an overall height of 2.89m at its highest point. That leaves room for a good ceiling height inside, which helps the open-plan space feel light and airy.
An open-plan room for the whole family
Glazing on two sides brings in daylight from the fields, and the family have arranged the room as three areas. The sitting room at the far end is set against a deep teal wall that holds the television, which gives that end a calmer, more enclosed feel than the pale walls around the rest of the room.
A long oak dining table sits by the French doors, looking out across the fields.
One of the biggest kitchens we’ve seen in an annexe
The kitchen is L-shaped, with a long peninsula that forms a breakfast bar facing into the living space. The hob is set into the peninsula, so whoever is cooking faces the room, not a wall, and the stools on the other side make it the natural place to sit and talk.
A bank of tall units holds a pair of built-in ovens at eye level, and cream Shaker-style doors with a dark worktop run along both walls.
Three bedrooms and a family bathroom
An oak-doored hallway leads from the kitchen to the bedrooms. The main bedroom is a 3.6m x 3.8m double with its own French doors to the deck.
The two children’s rooms are 3m x 2.5m each, one fitted with bunk beds and the other with a single bed, and both have a window to the back of the building.
The bathroom, at 3m x 2m, is big enough for a freestanding bath under the window, a grey vanity unit with drawers and a tall heated towel rail. Most annexes have a shower room; this one has a full family bathroom.
A utility entrance
The front door opens into a utility, not straight into the living space. Full-height cupboards match the kitchen, a worktop runs over the washing machine, and oak peg rails take coats. On a working farm, it means muddy boots and wet coats stop here, away from the rest of the house.
Built to full residential standard
Heritage Living Group built the annexe with SIPs for the floor, walls and roof, on ground screw foundations, to full residential standard. The project went through planning permission and Building Control sign-off, so it’s approved as a permanent home rather than occasional accommodation. For a building this size, lived in full time by a family, that’s the route to look for.
A family-run group in Doncaster
Heritage Living Group are a family-run construction group based in Doncaster, building garden rooms, annexes, extensions and lodges to residential standards across Yorkshire and beyond. Each building is designed to order, with 3D visuals and mood boards so clients can see how it will look before work starts.
Learn more about Heritage Living Group
To find out more about Heritage Living Group’s garden rooms and annexes, visit heritageliving.co.uk, call 01709 865392, or email hello@heritageliving.co.uk.
